I 


m 


in 


mm 

ti«Hw 


™^iil 


T.4-Or'PI.—(  Wftumtetl  Man,) 

A  friendly  Sioux  Indian,  chiefly  instrumental  in  b 
*hite  settlers  in  safety  to  camp  during  the  Indian  W 


AND      HIS      FRIENDS, 


OR    THE 


PHILADELPHIA: 

CLAXTON,    REMSEN   &    HAFFELFINGER. 

1869. 


JNDIAN 


In  the  recesses  of  the  western  wood, 
Into  its  very  heart,  —  by  all  forgot 
Save  Him  who  made  me,  —  would  it  were  my  lot 

To  bear  the  burden  of  its  solitude; 
And  in  some  wild  and  unfrequented  spot, 

Sharing  the  Indian  hunter'  s  cabin  rude, 
To  lead,  in  glad  return,  a  willing  guide, 
His  humbled  spirit  to  the  Crucified; 

And  in  the  solemn  twilight  hushed  and  dim, 
The  forest  people  often  gathering, 
To  make  the  green  and  pillared  arches  ring, 

Not  with  the  war  song,  but  the  holy  hymn. 
So  might  I  live,  and  leave  no  other  trace 
Where  I  had  made  my  earthly  dwelling  place. 

DR.  WM.  CROSWELLC 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGES. 

1 .  History  of  a  Mission  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  to  Santee 

Sioux  Indians,  written  by  William  Welsh. 

2.  Journal  written  at  the  Mission  in  Nebraska  by  the  Rev.  S.    D. 

Hinman,  1  to     4g 

3.  Address   by  Bishop  Whipple,  of  Minnesota,  at   the    Funeral   of 

TAOPI,  a  Christian  Chief  of  the  Farmer  Band  of  Santee  Sioux 

Indians,  4g  to     55 

4.  Letter  on    Indian   Civilization,   by  Major  Cullen,  of  Minnesota,    56  to     60 

5.  Letter  on  Indian  Civilization,  by  Hon.  H.  M.  Rice,  of  St.  Paul, 

Minnesota,  6j  to     6^ 

6.  Letter  on  Indian  Civilization,  by  Col.  J.  B.  Brown,  64  to     72, 

7.  Report  of  a  Committee  of  Citizens  sent  to  Washington  to  confer 

with    President   Grant  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  on 

Indian  Civilization,  73  to     84 

8.  Concluding  Appeal,  g5  to     g7 

9.  Report  of  Indian  Peace  Commissioners  appointed  in  1867  under 

an  Act  of  Congress,  8     to  I2 


M5GGOQ9 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH. 


In  publishing  the  following  instructive,  encouraging  and  deeply 
interesting  Journal,  written  by  the  Rev.  S.  D.  Hinman  at  the  San- 
tee  Indian  Mission,  and  Bishop  "Whipple's  pathetic  address  made 
at  the  funeral  of  Taopi,  it  is  evidently  proper  that  an  historical 
sketch  of  the  Mission  should  accompany  these  papers.  The  prep 
aration  of  such  a  sketch  naturally  devolves  upon  one  who  has  the 
official  supervision  of  the  Mission  under  the  sanction  of  the  Board 
of  Missions  and  of  Bishop  Clarkson,  with  the  approval  also  of 
Bishop  Whipple  and  the  Rev.  S.  D.  Hinman. 

Ignorance  concerning  Missions  to  Indians  and  the  consequent 
lack  of  faith  in  them  render  an  account  of  the  origin,  progress  and 
prospects  of  the  Church's  Mission  to  the  Sioux  nation  very  impor 
tant,  especially  at  this  extraordinary  juncture  in  Indian  affairs. — 
It  is  always  instructive  to  trace  as  far  as  is  possible  the  preparation 
of  God's  agents  who  are  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  great  Mission 
ary  work,  therefore  let  us  briefly  consider  the  characters  engaged 
in  this  Mission.  First,  a  man  of  purity  of  character,  ready  sym 
pathy  and  fervid  eloquence,  was  made  wise  in  the  things  of  this 
world  by  a  mercantile  training,  and  then  called  of  God  to  enter 
the  sacred  ministry.  The  Spirit  of  Christ  first  incited  him  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor  slave,  and  then  in  another  sphere 
to  visit  the  homes  and  workshops  of  mechanics,  to  make  himself 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  their  avocations,  and  then  to  draw  them 
to  a  free  Church,  where  they  were  cordially  welcomed  and  won  to 
Christ.  Called  to  a  higher  sphere,  he  was  consecrated  to  the  Bish 
opric  nine  years  since,  at  which  time  the  first  Missionary  Bishop 


iv 

of  our  Church,  the  Patriarchal  Kcmper.  invoked  God's  blessing 
upon  him,  asking  for  and  receiving  the  willing  pledge  that  he 
would  ever  be  the  Indian's  friend.  It  is  universally  known  that 
Bishop  Whipple  of  Minnesota  has  more  than  fulfilled  that  pledge 
by  unflinching  boldness  and  fearlessness  in  exposing  the  wrong 
doer,  and  by  the  most  pathetic  pleadings  for  that  poor,  despised  and 
down-trodden  people. — Not  only  to  congregations  of  his  own  re 
ligious  body,  but  to  all  who  were  willing  anywhere  to  listen  to  his 
fervid  and  melting  appeals,  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States  down  to  the  most  humble  listener. 

In  pleading  with  and  caring  for  the  Indian,  Bishop  Whipple  has 
braved  the  summer's  heat  and  the  winter's  cold  on  the  rivers  and 
prairies  of  the  far  West.  His  exposure  to  the  biting  frost  and  the 
drifting  snow  during  the  last  winter,  to  carry  succor  to  a  starving 
tribe,  almost  broke  him  down,  and  has  evidently  shortened  his  no 
ble  career  ;  still  he  says  that  the  heart-felt  gratitude  of  starving  In 
dians  more  than  repaid  him  for  all  His  toil. 

Time  and  again  has  it  been  vouchsafed  to  Bishop  Whipple,  as  to 
few  other  mortals,  to  enter  into  the  deep  significance  of  Isaiah's 
prophecy  concerning  the  great  Bishop  and  Shepherd  of  our  souls. 
"  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied." 

His  deep  interest  in  the  Indian  caused  him  to  be  sneered  at,  ridi 
culed  and  persecuted,  but  so  uncomplainingly  did  he  bear  it,  that  it 
may  be  recorded  of  him,  as  of  another  Great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles, 
"  The  Holy  Ghost  witnesseth  in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds  and 
afflictions  abide  me.  But  none  of  these  things  move  me,  neither 
count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course 
with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of  God." 

Second.  At  the  same  time  the  Holy  Spirit  was  inciting  Bishop 
Whipple,  wrhen  a  Deacon  and  a  Presbyter,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
the  poor,  the  same  Spirit  was  directing  a  young  man,  then  in  a  New 
England  school,  to  read  about  Missions  to  Indians,  until  his  interest 


in  them  had  so  deepened  as  to  lead  him  to  Faribatilt  in  Minnesota, 
where  he  hoped  to  teach  them  the  revealed  way  of  life.  He  found 
Indians  in  that  vicinity  with  whom  he  had  frequent  intercourse, 
but  as  his  time  in  the  school  was  occupied  in  teaching  white  chil 
dren,  he  was  frustrated  in  his  chief  design,  and  was  about  to  return 
to  his  home  sadly  disappointed. 

At  this  juncture  Bishop  "\Vhipple  assumed  the  charge  of  the 
Diocese  of  Minnesota,  and  by  his  overflowing  Missionary  zeal  the 
long  cherished  hopes  of  the  youthful  Hinman  soon  became  a  re 
ality.  He  had  self-denying  faith,  because  he  believed  that  he  was 
called  of  God  to  work  among  the  Sioux  Indians  ;  but  he  was  con 
stantly  driven  to  the  foot  of  the  Cross  by  persecutions  of  every 
kind,  by  perils  of  reputation  and  of  life  from  "his  own  brethren, 
and  by  exposure  at  times  to  hostile  and  infuriated  savages,  when 
they  were  goaded  to  madness  by  grievous  wrrongs  done  to  their  peo 
ple.  When  even  his  Church  lacked  faith  and  all  men  forsook 
him,  a  little  band  of  holy  women  ministered  to  him  with  unwa 
vering  confidence  in  the  Mission.  His  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
language  and  habits  of  the  Indian,  his  holy  zeal  and  his  firm  be 
lief  in  the  peculiar  adaptation  of  his  Church  to  promote  the  civ 
ilization  and  christianization  of  the  Indian,  pre-eminently  fit  him 
for  the  work  to  which  he  has  so  evidently  been  called  of  God,  and 
in  which  he  has  been  so  abundantly  prospered. 

Third.  Of  Bishop  Clarkson,  in  whose  jurisdiction  the  Mission  is 
now  located  and  who  manifests  the  most  tender  and  watchful  pa 
rental  care  over  it,  and  the  deepest  interest  in  its  success  and  ex 
tension,  little  need  be  said,  as  his  noble  record  has  been  written  in 
the  history  of  our  Church,  and  his  character  has  not  yet  been  tra 
duced  by  the  deluded  or  sordid  people  who  cry  for  the  extermina 
tion  of  the  Indian,  and  strive  to  silence  or  defame  the  Indian's 
friend. 

The  Mission  of  our  Church  to  the  Santee  Sioux  Indians  was  com 
menced  in  October,  I860,  under  the  following  circumstances.  The 


VI 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  had  a 
successful  Mission  to  these  Sioux  Indians  at  the  upper  Agency  in 
Minnesota,  but  there  were  tweny-five  hundred  at  the  lower  Agency, 
some  thirty  or  forty  miles  distant  from  schools  or  religious  teachers. 
The  Government  Superintendent,  Major  "W.  J.  Cullen,  had  par 
tially  civilized  some  of  them  by  inducing  them  to  part  with  their 
scalp  locks  and  to  become  self-supporting,  by  the  erection  of  houses 
and  by  stocking  farms  with  money  received  from  the  sale  of  their 
hunting  grounds.  It  became  apparent,  that  without  Christian  teach 
ers,  they  could  not  bear  the  persecutions  by  uncivilized  Indians  and 
rise  to  the  higher  forms  of  civilization  ;  therefore  he  besought  Bish 
op  "Whipple  to  establish  a  Mission  at  Redwood.  Young  Mr.  Hin- 
man,  then  a  Deacon,  was  consequently  sent  there,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  Miss  "West,  as  teachers,  and  their  labors  continued  for 
two  years,  when  the  great  body  of  uncivilized  Indians,  who  had 
been  waiting  in  vain  for  their  promised  Government  subsidies,  find 
ing  that  they  had  been  defrauded,  came,  after  the  Indian  custom,  to 
claim  food  from  their  more  prosperous  brethren.  They  had  waited 
so  long  and  their  craving  for  food  was  so  intense,  that  like  hun 
gry  wolves  they  devoured  all  animal  food,  and  then  as  an  army  of 
locusts  they  ate  up  every  green  thing,  even  sucking  the  juices  from 
the  corn  stalks  to  their  very  roots.  Maddened  by  the  stupendous 
frauds  that  had  been  perpetrated  upon  them,  and  goaded  on  by 
intense  hunger,  they,  like  fiends,  perpetrated  the  fearful  massacre 
which  in  1862  swept  hundreds  of  the  frontier  settlers  to  an  untimely 
grave.  This  was  a  dark  and  dreary  period  for  the  Mission,  many 
believing  that  the  Minister  and  his  teachers  had  been  massacred, 
and  many  more  affirming  that  the  so-called  Christian  Indians  had 
been  their  betrayers  and  murderers.  It  subsequently  appeared 
however,  that  the  Missionaries  were  respected  and  their  lives  saved 
by  the  most  hostile  Indians,  even  when  on  the  war  path.  The 
partially  christianized  Indians  brought  high  honor  to  their  religion, 
by  being  faithful  allies  to  the  whites  and  saving  hundreds  of  the 


Vll 

captives.  The  names  of  "Wabasha,  Taopi  and  Good  Thunder  will 
long  live  in  the  country's  history,  giving  indubitable  evidence  of 
what  Christian  teaching  can  do  for  savage  man. 

Out  of  the  five  thousand  Sioux  who  were  living  quietly  in  Min 
nesota  before  the  frauds  and  delays  that  culminated  in  the  massa 
cre,  some  eighteen  hundred,  who  were  peacefully  inclined,  were 
after  that  event  collected  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  soon  they  sent  be 
seeching  messages  to  their  Missionaries  to  come  and  give  them 
religious  instruction  once  more. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Himnaii  went  to  them  and  watched  over  their 
temporal  as  well  as  their  spiritual  interests  with  ceaseless  vigilance, 
making  arrangements  with  the  Government  and  with  the  army 
officers  for  location  after  location  on  which  to  establish  these  Indians 
as  a  permanent  abiding  place.  At  one  time  farms  were  rented  for 
many  of  them,  but  insuperable  difficulties  were  presented  either 
by  white  settlers,  speculators  in  land,  or  by  too  great  proximity  to 
hostile  Indians,  and  so  hope  after  hope  dawned,  but  soon  faded  away. 
The  faithful  Missionary  plead  for  his  helpless  wards  at  the  seat  of 
Government  through  influential  friends,  and  then  in  person,  aided 
by  the  presence  of  the  Indian  Chiefs.  This  little  band  of  Chris 
tian  Indians,  headed  by  their  Missionary,  visited  Philadelphia,  and 
excited  so  deep  an  interest  that  an  Association  was  formed  for  their 
relief,  chiefly  composed  of  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
through  whose  agency  large  contributions  of  money  were  made 
for  the  benefit  of  these  loyal  Santee  Indians.  The  writer  of  this 
sketch  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  and  in  that  capacity  held 
the  pleasant  intercourse  with  Taopi  that  the  Christian  warrior  re 
membered  five  years  afterwards,  just  as  his  life  was  ebbing  out. — 
They  visited  the  Elm  on  the  grounds  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
and  under  the  shadow  of  that  descendant  of  the  William  Penn 
Treaty  Elm,  Taopi  learned  that  there  were  true  and  brave  hearts  that 
would  pray  and  watch  for  the  opportunity  of  doing  justice  to  the 
American  Indian. 


Vlll 

In  Bishop  Whipple  lie  ever  found  the  living  illustration  of  the 
truth  of  the  assurance  there  given,  buoying  him  up  during  his  life 
and  cheering  him  in  the  hour  of  death,  with  the  confident  hope  that 
his  wife  and  children  and  brethren  would  be  cared  for. 

These  Indians  were  at  length  moved  to  a  reservation  at  Crow 
Creek  in  Dakota,  and  there  they  gladly  erected  two  large  log 
Churches  in  which  their  children  were  taught,  and  where  they  wor 
shipped  their  God  and  Saviour.  It  soon  became  apparent,  that  owing 
to  drought  and  the  barrenness  of  the  soil  and  the  scarcity  of  game, 
they  would  all  perish,  unless  Government  supplies  could  be  largely 
furnished.  They  had  been  induced  to  go  there  by  the  pledge  of 
support,  but  as  the  promise  was  only  partially  fulfilled,  notwith 
standing  the  earnest  entreaties  of  their  Missionaries,  their  suffer 
ing  became  intense,  over  three  hundred  starving  in  a  few  months, 
including  all  their  young  children,  so  tenderly  loved  by  the  Indian. 

After  three  years  of  this  fearful  trial  and  suffering  they  were 
removed  to  their  present  location  in  Nebraska  on  the  Missouri 
River,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara,  where  they  have  remained 
until  now,  deeply  anxious  to  know  their  fate.  Politicians  and  land 
speculators  have  visited  them  from  time  to  time,  assuring  them 
that  they  would  soon  be  moved  again,  but  their  Missionary  in 
spired  them  with  hope  by  his  work  of  faith  in  erecting  a  beautiful 
and  commodious  Mission  House,  School  and  Chapel.  This  confi 
dence,  shown  by  a  man  of  God  in  whom  they  trusted  and  who  had  re 
mained  with  them  in  all  their  troubles,  induced  some  of  them  also 
to  build  and  to  begin  the  work  of  cultivation  with  such  rude  im 
plements  as  were  within  their  reach. 

In  the  good  providence  of  God  the  Peace  Commission  employed 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Hinman,  owing  to  his  perfect  familiarity  with  the 
language  and  the  confidence  of  all  the  Indians  in  him,  to  visit  some 
of  the  uncivilized  Tribes  that  were  being  moved  into  the  new  Ter 
ritory  which  adjoins  the  present  location  of  the  Santees.  Through 
Mr.  Hinman' s  influence  the  Peace  Commission  inserted  in  their 


IX 

Treaty  with  the  Sioux,  a  clause  that  will  enable  the  Santees  to  re,- 
main  permanently  on  their  present  reservation,  and  there  to  acquire 
a  title  to  farms  immediately,  and  to  citizenship  within  three  years. 
This  is  briefly  a  history  of  the  origin  of  the  Church's  Mission  to 
the  Santee  Sioux  Indians ;  dark  and  disastrous  as  it  seems  to  have 
been,  yet  now  all  is  hopeful . 

Its  progress  in  spiritual  things  has  been  steady  and  satisfactory 
beyond  the  highest  hopes  of  its  projectors.  The  most  faithful 
preaching  seemed  at  first  to  have  little  effect,  but  when  the  Mis 
sionary  went  from  lodge  to  lodge,  showing  kindness  to  the  sick  and 
troubled  ones,  and  especially  when  he  taught  their  children  a  better 
way  of  life,  the  hearts  of  the  mothers  first,  and  next  of  the  fathers 
and  husbands,  were  by  such  means  prepared  of  God  to  receive  the 
good  seed  of  His  word .  At  the  end  of  two  years,  eighteen  adults 
were  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  clothed  and  in  their  right  mind, 
as  was  evidenced  during  the  massacre,  when  they  were  so  strongly 
incited  to  forsake  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  revenge  the  fearful 
wrongs  to  their  brethren.  At  Fort  Snelling  the  work  of  grace  was 
still  more  apparent,  large  classes  were  prepared  for  Holy  Baptism, 
and  the  conjuring  Medicine  men  came  and  laid  their  charms  and 
heathen  weapons  at  the  feet  of  the  beloved  Bishop.  The  good 
work  went  on  even  during  the  three  years  of  fearful  suffering  on 
the  upper  Missouri  in  Dakota,  and  in  June  last  Bishop  Clarkson 
thus  testified  to  the  Mission  as  it  now  is  :  "I  really  think  there  is 
nothing  in  our  day  on  this  continent  more  interesting  to  visit  than 
this  Santee  Indian  Mission.  It  is  impossible  for  a  Christian  man 
to  spend  a  single  day  among  the  monuments  and  the  results  of  this 
heroic  Christian  effort,  without  the  profoundest  emotions  of  grati 
tude  and  the  deepest  feelings  of  wonder  and  of  awe.  Nearly  all  the 
oldest  members  of  Mr.  Hinman's  Indian  congregation  have  been  con 
firmed  and  are  Communicants — over  two  hundred  and  fifty  out  of  a 
population  of  one  thousand  souls.  Think  of  that,  and  contrast  it 
with  the  statistics  of  any  Christian  community  anywhere.  I  entreat 


those  who  love  Christ's  word  and  who  are  interested  in  the  melan 
choly  condition  of  this  Pagan  race  that  is  passing  to  a  heathen 
grave  within  an  arm's  length  of  our  boasted  Christianity,  not  to 
allow  this  Mission  to  be  crippled  for  want  of  means.  Mr.  Hinman, 
with  one  Indian  Deacon  and  two  or  three  candidates  for  the  Min 
istry  now  at  his  side,  can  very  readily  extend  his  operations  almost 
indefinitely." 

This  testimony  is  of  inestimable  value,  because  it  comes  from  a 
thoroughly  intelligent  eye-witness,  who  was  not  the  founder  of  the 
Mission,  and  whose  surroundings,  as  Bishop  of  Dacotah  and  Ne 
braska,  were  more  likely  to  prejudice  him  against,  than  to  pre 
possess  him  in  favor  of  Missions  to  Indians. 

The  "civilization  and  Ghristianizatioii "  of  any  nomadic 
Indians,  under  the  very  unfavorable  circumstances  in  which  they 
have  thus  far  been  placed,  should  inspire  their  friends  with  faith 
in  a  larger  Divine  blessing  hereafter;  for  the  work  already  accom 
plished  is  as  much  a  miracle  of  grace  as  was  the  continuous  flow 
of  water  from  the  flinty  rock,  by  which  another  wandering  people 
learned  to  know  their  God  and  Saviour. 

The  American  Indian  is  naturally  reverent;  he  has  neither  the 
ability  nor  the  disposition  to  utter  an  oath,  for  there  is  not  a  word 
in  any  Indian  language  by  which  even  the  slightest  disrespect  to 
the  Great  Spirit  can  be  expressed.  He  never  invented  any  in 
toxicating  drink,  and  his  women  are  so  chaste,  that  in  some  tribes 
certain  death  follows  any  breach  of  the  marriage  tie.  "Whilst  our 
highly  farored  race,  that  claims  to  have  a  Divine  revelation  con 
taining  the  purest  moral  precepts,  sends  to  the  Indian,  emissaries 
that  breathe  out  fearful  curses  against  their  God  and  Saviour — 
that  freely  indulge  in  intoxicating  drink,  and  induce  the  Indian  to 
partake  of  it,  in  order  to  cheat  him  out  of  his  lands,  and  skins  and 
furs,  and  that  corrupt  his  women  under  false  promises,  filling  them 
with  most  loathsome  diseases. 

After  such  an  introduction  to  so-called  Christian  civilization,  is 


it  not  a  miracle  of  grace  that  any  spiritual  progress  lias  been  made 
with  the  American  Indian? 

The  fertile  soil  of  our  vast  prairies  was  formed  or  enriched  by 
the  debris  of  devastating  floods ;  so  the  mire  and  dirt  of  immo 
rality  cast  up  upon  our  Western  frontier  by  the  great  tidal  wave 
of  Christian  civilization,  although  a  festeriug  mass  of  irreligion, 
may,  by  an  inscrutable  Providence,  be  used  to  stimulate  a  spiritual 
growth.  The  action,  first  of  winter's  frost,  and  then  of  summer's 
heat  upon  the  seed-pod  and  its  frail  infolded  germ,  seems  to  be 
needful  to  cover  the  prairie  with  bloom  and  nutritious  verdure  ;  so 
after  their  fearful  wrongs  and  sufferings,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
is  even  now  stimulating  into  a  spiritual  bloom  and  growth,  some 
of  the  very  people  that  seemed  so  likely  to  perish. 

The  accompanying  address  by  Bishop  Whipple  exquisitely  pic 
tures  this  spiritual  bloom,  not  only  in  dying  Taopi,  but  also  in  the 
Wapashaws  and  the  Good  Thunders,  with  other  Christian  war 
riors  who,  in  parting  from  their  Father,  received  his  blessing,  each 
one  of  them  kissing  his  wife,  and  saying,  "to  meet  you  in  heaven, 
I  hope."  The  journal  of  the  Santee  Mission  testifies  to  the  steady 
growth  of  spiritual  verdure  ;  and  the  following  extract  from  a 
recent  letter  written  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hinman  shows  that  this  ver 
dure  is  spreading  to  the  regions  yet  beyond,  and  that  even  death 
serves  to  stimulate  the  missionary  spirit  in  the  breasts  of  the 
living.  "My  Catechists  have  done  nobly,  and  are  now  much 
interested  in  the  Yankton  Mission  which  the/  undertake  next 
week.  Matthew  died  during  my  absence,  full  of  faith,  and  for 
days  longing  to  go  where  his  children  had  been  called  before.  All 
the  young  men  here  look  upon  him  as  a  saint  indeed.  It  is  so 
blessed  to  think  of  these  young  men,  holy,  earnest  and  truthful, 
putting  us  to  shame  in  their  simplicity  of  faith — and  yet  they  are 
Indians,  and  might  have  been  almost  fiends,  but  for  God's  mercy 
in  establishing  and  perpetuating  this  Mission.  Matthew  wore  his 
cross  on  his  heart  when  he  died,  and  it  was  a  matter  of  doubt 


Xll 

among  the  Indians  whether  or  no  it  should  be  buried  with  him — 
but  Christian  Taopi,  who  prayed  with  him  daily,  said,  '  No,  when 
a  man  dies  his  work  lives,  and  among  heathen  a  son  inherits  a 
father's  medals  and  charms.  This  Cross  must  bear  Matthew's 
holy  life  and  work  to  a  successor,  who  will  make  it  a  living  sign 
of  salvation  to  our  people.'  " 

Whilst  this  paragraph  was  being  penned,  the  heavens  were 
glowing  with  the  exquisite  Aurora  of  April  15th,  bringing  to  mind 
the  beautiful  imagery  used  by  an  Indian  Chief  in  addressing  his 
great  Father  at  Washington. 

"If  you  will  only  lift  up  the  drooping  spirits  of  your  red 
children,  by  giving  them  succor  and  teaching  them  the  better  way 
of  life,  their  thanksgivings  for  you  and  yours  will  ascend  to 
heaven,  just  as  the  Aurora  kindles  its  light  on  earth,  and  streams 
upwards  through  the  cold  and  dark  night  towards  the  home  oi'  the 
Great  Spirit." 

The  PROSPECTS  of  this  and  other  Missions  to  Indians  will  be 
briefly  considered  under  three  heads.  1st.  Governmental  action 
as  bearing  on  the  civilization  of  Indians.  2nd.  Capacity  of 
American  Indians  for  Christian  civilization  and  their  disposition 
towards  it.  3rd.  The  character  of  religious  instruction  best  suitetl 
to  this  peculiar  people. 

1st.  Governmental  action  thus  far,  although  generally  well  in 
tended,  has  been  most  unfavorable  to  the  promotion  of  civilization 
among  the  Indians.  Making  treaties  with  tribes  as  independent 
sovereignties  was  a  most  lamentable  perpetuation  of  the  error  of 
clanship  that  kept  Scotland  so  long  in  barbarism  and  bathed  it  in 
blood,  and  that  has  in  this  country  been  fraught  with  much  evil. 
The  late  fearful  rebellion  sprang  from  the  same  pernicious  prin 
ciple,  so  prolific  of  evil;  and  if  our  Indian  tribes  now  possessed 
the  same  power  of  combining  in  opposition  to  the  general  Gov 
ernment,  that  so-called,  sovereign  States  possess,  our  Western 
frontier  would  this  spring  be  one  great  charnel  house,  and  all  rail- 


X11L 

road  facilities  would  be  indefinitely  postponed.  Treaties  which 
allow  Indians  to  retain  large  tracts  of  land  to  provide  game  for 
their  support  must,  of  necessity,  be  broken  ;  for  even  if  our 
Government  had  the  disposition,  it  would  be  utterly  powerless  to 
keep  such  treaties  by  checking  the  tide  of  emigration  that  sweeps 
on  in  search  of  gold  or  other  lures.  Another  great  hindrance  to 
civilization  arises  from  the  rich  political  patronage  afforded  by  the 
large  appropriations  annually  made  to  fulfil  the  stipulations  in 
these  treaties.  With  the  increasing  cost  of  conducting  political 
campaigns,  new  treaties,  removals  and  increased  appropriations 
become  necessary  to  assist  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  vic 
torious  party,  or  to  reward  its  orators  or  schemers.  Thus  the 
claims  for  party  spoils  by  political  victors  render  every  attempt  to 
civilize  the  wild  Indians  utterly  abortive. 

It  is  alleged  and  believed  that  these  Indians  now  receive  a  very 
small  proportion  of  the  appropriations,  and  that  the  way  in  which 
they  get  this  small  share,  with  the  frequency  of  political  changes, 
tends  rather  to  pauperize  than  to  civilize  and  ennoble  them.  Many 
politicians  are  no  doubt  fully  possessed  with  the  belief  that  if  their 
political  party  does  not  prevail,  the  country  will  be  ruined  ;  there 
fore,  as  the  Indian  has  no  vote,  patronage  must  be  extended  to 
others  who  can  aid  in  saving  the  nation  from  impending  ruin. 

It  is  due  to  the  dominant  political  party  to  say,  that  its  leaders 
now  see  and  abhor  the  evils  resulting  from  the  present  system,  and 
that  they  promptly  accepted  and  cordially  supported  a  proposal 
recently  made  by  a  committee  that  visited  Washington,  because, 
in  their  judgment,  it  gave  the  promise  of  benefiting  the  Indian, 
even  at  the  sacrifice  of  valuable  political  patronage. 

A  paper  at  the  close  of  this  publication  renders  further  remarks 
under  this  head  unnecessary,  as  it  gives  interesting  particulars  of 
the  causes  that  led  to  recent  Governmental  action,  that  is  favorable 
to  the  Indian.  It  will  be  encouraging  to  all  philanthropists  to 
learn  that  the  present  Administration  has  firmly  resolved  to 


xiv 

exercise  a  paternal  care  over  the  Indian,  and  because  of  past 
national  wrongs,  to  give  the  Red-man  privileges  and  aids  in  lands, 
farming  implements  and  temporary  support,  that  were  never 
accorded  to  the  white  or  to  the  black  race. 

2nd.  The  capacity  of  American  Indians  for  Christian  civiliza 
tion  and  their  present  disposition  towards  it,  is  now  so  evident 
on  the  part  of  many  tribes,  that  it  affords  the  most  hopeful  feature 
of  the  present  time.  This  favorable  disposition  is  fully  testified 
to  in  this  publication,  by  five  witnesses  who  have  viewed  the  sub 
ject  from  different  stand-points ;  each  witness  being  eminent  in  his 
department.  Two  of  these,  Bishop  Whipple  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Hinman,  have  already  been  sufficiently  referred  to.  The  Hon. 
Henry  M.  Rice,  long  a  Senator  from  Minnesota,  and  the  founder 
of  the  city  of  St.  Paul,  resided  so  long  with  the  Chippeways  and 
the  Sioux,  and  enjoyed  their  confidence  so  fully,  that  to  these 
Indians  he  became  a  sort  of  demigod,  to  whom  they  looked  in  all 
their  troubles.  He  negociated  merciful  treaties  with  them,  but  as 
human  governments  are  much  more  likely  to  be  moved  by  poli 
tical  than  by  charitable  considerations,  he  became  hopeless  of 
checking  the  tendency  to  political  corruption,  and  the  consequent 
deterioration  of  the  Indian  ;  therefore  his  testimony  in  favor  of  the 
system  about  to  be  inaugurated  by  the  present  Administration 
has  high  value. 

Major  Cullen,  a  large-hearted  man,  and  an  ardent  sympathizer 
with  the  Indian,  acted  as  Government  Superintendent  in  Minne 
sota  for  several  years ;  and  he  has  latterly  been  serving  in  the 
same  capacity  in  Montana,  to  which  place  he  was  urgently  called 
to  quell  Indian  outbreaks.  Indians  look  upon  him  as  their  true 
friend.  Mr.  J.  R.  Brown  lived  with  Indians  over  forty  years 
as  a  trader,  and  then  a  Government  Agent,  he  speaks  their 
languages  and  therefore  had  tile  closest  personal  contact  with 
them  ;  his  letter  is  able,  instructive  and  encouraging.  He  and 
Major  Cullen  were  removed  for  political  considerations  ;  and  this 


XV 

removal  caused,  as  is  believed,  the  fearful  massacre  in  Minnesota, 
by  which  nearly  a  thousand  persons  were  killed. 

The  schools  and  Mission  to  the  Santee  Sioux  have  most  sat 
isfactorily  revealed  the  brightness  and  intelligence  of  Indian 
children,  and  their  remarkable  interest  in  Christian  civilization. 
The  women  are  also  smart,  industrious  and  hopeful,  quickly 
acquiring  the  art  of  reading  and  writing,  and  evince  great  apti 
tude  for  handicraft.  They  become  intelligent  and  firm  Christians, 
often  sustaining  their  more  desponding  husbands,  and  are  skilful 
in  teaching  others  in  Sunday  School,  at  Mothers'  Meetings,  and 
from  lodge  to  lodge,  where  their  Christian  hymns  and  prayers 
edify  and  draw  down  a  blessing  upon  many  of  their  sisters. 

The  young  men  are  readily  inspired  with  hope,  and  then  they 
become  active  workers  and  zealous  Christians.  One  such  has 
entered  the  sacred  ministry,  whilst  others  as  candidates  or  catc- 
chists,  are  putting  their  white  brethren  to  shame  by  their  Christian 
zeal  and  efficiency. 

The  following  extract  from  a  familiar  letter  to  one  of  the  candi 
dates  now  in  the  Mission  House,  in  Philadelphia,  shows  the  firm 
ness  and  faith  of  young  men,  and  the  ordeal  through  which  they 
pass.  "I  went  to-day  with  friend  Christian  Taopi  to  pray  with 
Pay-pay's  wife,  who  was  very  sick,  and  while  we  were  there,  and 
when  we  were  just  ready  to  read — the  Bible  being  already  open — 
Satan  came  also  and  behaved  very  furiously  against  us.  War 
Club,  an  old  conjuror,  came  in  and  said,  '  The  time  was  when  I 
speedily  cured  the  sick,  and  was  honored,  but  now  what  do  you 
boys  mean  by  your  books — what  can  paper  do?  Put  up  your 
book,  or  better,  throw  it  in  the  fire  and  go  away,  and  do  not  think 
yourselves  men.'  After  saying  this  he  left  the  house,  violently 
shutting  the  door.  We  remembered  the  words  of  the  Saviour, 
'  fear  not  those  who  can  kill  the  body, '  and  we  knelt  down  and 
prayed,  and  though  the  woman  seemed  near  death,  now  to-day 


XVI 

she  is  better,  and  all  our  people  feel  that  God  has  notably  answered 
our  prayers." 

A  deep  gloom  has  settled  upon  the  old  Indian  -warrior  and 
hunter,  rendering  him  almost  hopeless  ;  and  yet,  when  he  acquires 
confidence  in  the  good  intentions  of  the  Government,  and  in  the 
sincerity  of  those  who  offer  to  aid  him,  he  improves  in  Christian 
civilization  beyond  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  his  friends. 
The  confidence  of  the  writer  of  this  sketch  strengthened  when  he 
saw  seven  such  men  in  Washington,  resisting  successfully  the 
temptations  that  surrounded  them  at  the  time  of  the  recent  In 
auguration.  These  men  are  the  Chiefs  of  the  bands  of  the  Santee 
Sioux  Indians,  some  of  them  scarred  warriors,  and  yet  110  other 
Christian  gentlemen  could  have  conducted  themselves  with  greater 
propriety. 

3d.  The  character  of  religious  instruction  best  suited  to  the 
American  Indian.  It  is  apparent  that  the  efforts  thus  far  made  to 
extend  the  saving  influence  of  the  Christian  religion  to  the  Indians 
in  their  nomadic  condition,  have  generally  been  so  unsatisfactory 
as  to  dishearten  most  of  those  who  have  undertaken  this  work. 
This  should  not  be  surprising  or  tend  to  check  Christian  efforts 
when  Indians  become  settled,  and  the  civilizing  process  has  com 
menced;  for  God's  ancient  people,  the  children  of  Israel,  did  not 
participate  in  the  privileges  connected  with  the  rite  of  Circum 
cision  and  the  Passover,  until  their  wanderings  had  ceased,  and 
they  had  reached  their  reservation. 

Influenced  by  occasional  intercourse  with  our  race,  the  Medicine 
man  or  conjuror  is  fast  losing  his  hold  upon  this  people  ;  but 
whilst  this  is  a  preparation  for  the  Gospel,  yet  when  freed  from 
the  restraining  influence  of  superstition,  the  Indian  will  fast  de 
generate,  unless  the  benefits  of  our  holy  religion  are  brought  to 
bear  upon  his  heart  and  life. 

The  Indian  is  naturally  reverent,  tranquil  rather  than  emotional, 
and  possessed  of *a  remarkable  taste  for  music ;  these  character- 


XV11 

istics  indicate  the  kind  of  religions  instruction  and  public  worship 
best  suited  to  him.  His  mind  is  so  filled  with  natural  imagery, 
that  his  religious  teacher  is  deeply  impressed  with  the  mercy  of 
God  in  making  His  first  recorded  revelation  to  man  in  a  primitive 
language,  which  is  so  simple  and  pictorial,  that  a  child  of  nature 
can  readily  understand  it.  The  heroic  and  loving  deeds  recorded 
in  the  Bible  impress  the  Indian  deeply ;  therefore,  Bible  Classes 
and  other  similar  modes  of  teaching  have  high  value.  The  Indian 
loves  his  children  so  tenderly,  and  has  so  firm  a  belief  that  after 
death  they  go  to  the  home  of  the  blessed,  that  he  naturally  inclines 
to  a  Church  where  the  lambs  are  carefully  folded,  and  the  parents 
assured,  by  acts  as  well  as  words,  that  it  is  not  God's  will  that  one 
little  one  should  perish.  Unless  the  Church  aids  in  teaching  and 
training  his  children  in  the  ways  of  godliness,  and  shows  kindness 
to  the  sick,  the  Indian  cannot  look  upon  her  as  a  tender  mother. 
He  naturally  thinks,  that  as  the  dear  Saviour  blessed  children  and 
healed  the  sick  when  on  earth,  so  the  Church  should  be  specially 
careful  to  imitate  Him  in  works  as  well  as  in  teaching.  At  the 
Santee  Mission  his  sons  are  trained  to  lead  the  praises  in  their 
Church,  this  pleases  the  father,  and  makes  him  hopeful  that 
his  boys  will  have  a  higher  aim  than  the  chase  or  the  war  path, 
and  arrangements  are  made  for  the  erection  of  a  hospital  in  which 
the  sick  will  be  cared  for  by  trained  Christian  women. 

A  reverent  public  worship  is  evidently  best  suited  to  the  Indian  ; 
he  takes  deep  interest  in  a  liturgical  service  which  he  can  either 
read  or  commit  to  memory  ;  chanting  the  Psalter  and  singing 
solemn  Hymns  afford  him  great  delight.  The  peculiar  adaptation 
of  the  order  and  the  worship  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
to  these  home  heathen,  has  been  fully  demonstrated  through  a 
series  of  years.  At  the  Santee  Mission  all  the  public  services  are 
as  orderly  as  in  any  congregation  of  intelligent  white  people  ;  the 
sermons  and  addresses  are  always  extemporaneous,  and  the  Gate- 
chists  are  frequently  employed  in  giving  religious  instruction  on 


XVlil 

these  public  occasions.  Candidates  for  Holy  Orders  and  Catechists 
are  first  trained  to  instruct  the  ignorant  in  private,  and  to  comfort 
the  sorrowing  and  the  sick,  and  then  to  address  small  worshipping 
assemblies,  and  afterwards  to  exercise  their  gifts  in  public.  The 
Church's  system  has  been  so  thoroughly  wrought  out  at  this  Mis 
sion,  that  the  public  services  and  the  private  instruction  go  on 
with  perfect  regularity  and  efficiency  during  the  absence  of  the 
ministers,  though  all  the  male  helpers  are  Indians.  Young  women 
are  also  trained  to  serve  as  teachers  ;  and  mothers  who  have  reached 
maturity,  and  have  earned  a  good  degree,  are  trained  to  conduct 
worship  in  the  lodge,  and  to  instruct  at  the  large  weekly  Mothers' 
Meeting  that  has  been  productive  of  much  good. 

The  prayers  of  these  Christian  Indians,  made  at  the  lodges  and 
in  social  meetings,  are  so  appropriate,  earnest,  and  full  of  faith, 
that  they  forcibly  bring  to  mind  the  promise  made  through  St. 
James,  "The  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick,  and  the  Lord  shall 
raise  him  up,  and  if  he  have  committed  sins  they  shall  be  forgiven 
him."  It  has  been  demonstrated  that  the  distinctive  teachings  of 
the  Church  have  high  value,  as  thereby  the  Indian  acquires  a  posi 
tive  and  intelligent  connection  with  a  thoroughly  organized  re 
ligious  body,  instead  of  the  loose  adhesion  that  exposes  the  young 
disciple  to  be  drawn  back  into  heathenism.  The  perfect  harmony 
and  cordiality  that  have  always  existed  there  between  the  Mis 
sionaries  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  foreign 
Missions  and  those  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  prove  conclusively 
that  the  destruction  of  that  which  is  distinctive  in  the  individual, 
the  family,  or  the  Church,  is  not  necessary  to  promote  the  ten- 
derest  brotherly  love.  This  historical  sketch  has  been  extended 
far  beyond  the  original  design  of  the  writer,  but  he  has  been  led 
en  by  the  new-born  interest  in  the  subject. 

W.  W. 


T 


o  THE  FRIENDS  OF  THE    SANTEE 


DEAR  BRETHREN:— 

I  am  very  thankful  to  be  able  to  tell  you,  whose 
faith  and  prayers  have  for  so  long  a  time  been  our  strength  and 
our  success,  that  to-day  our  Mission  in  all  its  present  work,  and 
with  all  that  we  propose  for  it,  is  given  into  the  charge  of  the 
Domestic  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Missions.  The  success  of 
Missions  to  the  Indians  is  no  longer  a  question,  and  the  Church 
acknowledges  her  duty  to  the  heathen  of  our  own  land. 

"We  have  now  here,  in  a  population  of  fifteen  hundred  souls, 
one  thousand  baptized  persons,  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
communicants,  two  hundred  children  in  our  care,  four  young  men 
preparing  for  the  Sacred  Ministry,  two  candidates  for  Holy  Orders, 
and  one  native  Deacon. 

"We  have  a  substantial  Mission  House  and  a  beautiful  Chapel, 
the  gift  of  a  Christian  child  whose  dying  wish  was  "to  tell  the 
heathen  of  Jesus'  love." 

"We  need  yet  more  room  for  our  schools,  but  most  of  all  a  hos 
pital,  where  we  may  bring  the  sick  and  aged  and  the  better  minis 
ter  to  their  wants. 

Above  us  on  the  Missouri  river,  and  only  separate  from  us  by 


the  Niobrara,  is  the  new  Indian  territory,  now  set  apart  for  all 
the  northern  tribes.  And  they  are  even  now  being  gathered  in 
and  located  on  their  new  tracts  of  land.  They  earnestly  desire  to 
have  schools  and  Christian  teachers.  Their  language  is  allied  to 
the  Saiitee,  and  we  are  training  young  men  (natives)  who  will  be 
sent  out  as  evangelists  to  their  own  people. 

Our  Mission  is  now  in  its  ninth  year.  It  was  begun  and  has 
been  built  up  in  the  face  of  great  difficulties.  But  God  has  been 
very  kind  to  us  and  given  us  many  friends. 

We  would  not  take  from  any  other  work,  for  everywhere  suc 
cess  is  calling  for  greater  faith.  But  we  surely  owe  a  great  duty 
to  these  poor,  foolish,  savage  Indians.  All  do  not  feel  an  interest 
in  them,  but  in  every  congregation  there  are  some  who  do  think  of 
them,  and  feel  that  we  ought  at  least,  to  try  to  befriend  them,  and 
to  teach  them,  and  if  God's  will  to  save  some  of  them. 

We  ask  then  of  all  such,  and  of  all  who  wish  us  God-speed  in 
our  Mission,  that  they  aid  us  by  their  prayers,  their  influence, 
and  their  alms,  and  promise  that  the  work  shall  not  be  neglected 
nor  given  up. 

I  am,  dear  brethren,  sincerely  yours, 

SAMUEL  D.  HINMAN. 

All  offerings  should  be  sent  to  MR.  WM.  WELSH,  Superintendent 
of  Mission,  1122  SPRUCE  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA,  or  to  REV.  DR. 
Twrxo,  17  Bible  House,  N.  Y.,  and  they  should  be  marked  "for 
Santee  Mission." 

Special  offerings  should  be  designated,  "for  School,"  "for  Hos 
pital,"  for  L  ib  rary . ' ' 

Missionary  Boxes  or  Packages  may  be  sent,  freight  pre-paid,  to 
Rev'd  S.  D.  HINMAN,  marked,  via.  Chicago  a-nd  North- Western 
R.  R.,  care  J.  H.  CHARLES,  Sioux  City,  Iowa. 

The  Post  Office  address  of  the  Missionary  is  Santee  Agency,  Ne 
braska. 


SANTEE  MISSION,   1869. 

TJie  First  Month. 

We  begin  to-day  the  new  year,  the  ninth  year  of  our  Mission  to 
these  poor  Indians.  And  we  begin  again,  as  usual,  without  means 
for  carrying  on  our  work,  or  pledges  for  our  support ;  but  we  have 
sure  confidence  that  our  Lord  will  not  fail  those  that  work  for 
Him. 

What  years  have  these  been  !  and  through  what,  and  how  great 
perplexities  and  dangers  has  God  brought  us  ! 

We  pray  that  we  may  be  more  thankful,  and  that  we  may  grow 
more  and  more  into  the  likeness  of  His  dear  Son.  We  have  reason 
to  be  thankful,  for  God  alone  has  been  our  shield,  and  He  has 
covered  our  head  in  the  day  of  battle.  We  have  reason  to  be  thank 
ful  and  take  courage  when  we  look  at  our  work. 

We  found  these  people  utter  heathens,  in  garb,  in  foolish  super 
stition,  and  heathen  in  sin  and  savage  cruelty. 

Now  how  changed,  in  costume — like  whites,  in  habit — all  out 
ward  signs  of  heathenism  gone,  and  best  of  all,  very  many  of  them 
truly  converted  to  the  knowledge  and  the  obedience  of  the  love  of 
Jesus,  the  only  Saviour.  For  all  this  we  can  heartily  rejoice. 

To-day  I  have  sent  out  our  annual  circular  appealing  to  the 
friends  of  the  Mission,  and  of  the  Indians,  still  to  help  us,  and  work 
for  us  and  them. 

Our  only  trust  is  in  the  faith  that  God  shall  give  us  all  in  the 
Mission  of  the  gospel  of  his  dear  Son. 

I  have  also  had  a  talk  with  Andrew  Huntka,  a  Christian  Indian, 
belonging  to  the  new  part  of  the  Eeyata  Band.  They  desire  a 
Catechist  appointed  to  lead  them  in  village  service,  and  to  look 


after  those  who  are  still  careless  about  Christian  worship.  They 
have  selected  a  very  active  young  man,  who,  after  much  thought 
and  counsel,  has  consented  to  give  himself  to  the  work. 

To-morrow  I  have  a  meeting  of  all  my  Catechists  to  take  counsel 
in  regard  to  the  matter. 

It  is  the  Feast  of  the  Circumcision  of  our  Lord,  the  Festival  of 
the  Holy  Name  Jesus.  "We  have  just  had  our  evening  prayer.  Very 
many  young  people  were  present.  I  tried  to  tell  them  the  deep 
significance  of  this  blessed  name,  Saviour.  But  how  weak  are  all 
our  words  when  we  speak  of  Him  !  How  unfeeling  and  far  away 
our  thoughts,  when  we  try  to  comprehend  and  tell  how  much  is 
meant  when  we  call  Jesus  the  Saviour  of  mankind. 

During  this  coming  year,  may  God  grant  to  all  of  us  renewed 
earnestness,  and  the  eloquence  of  hearts  burning  with  the  love  of 
Jesus,  His  dear  and  only  Son. 

January  2d. 

Meeting  of  Clergy  and  Catecltists  according  to  appointment.  Pres 
ent  :  Missionary,  Deacon  Paul  Mazakute  (Iron  Shooter),  Christian 
Taopi  (Wounded),  Philip  Johnson,  Joseph  Wapashaw  (Red  Stand 
ard). 

We  discussed,  first,  the  new  Catechist,  for  the  Reyata  Band, 
Owancas  (Scarlet  all  over).  He  was  reported  to  be  a  young  man 
of  good  repute,  never  having  any  bad  name,  except  at  one  time  from 
trouble  with  his  wife,  who  is  said  to  be  a  woman  of  very  bad  tem 
per,  and  bad  family  connection.  They  are  lawfully  married.  We 
instructed  Philip  and  Taopi  to  visit  them  at  their  house,  and  talk 
with  both  of  them,  especially  in  regard  to  their  former  trouble,  and 
report  at  a  meeting  at  dark  this  eve. 

We  next  talked  over  our  catechetical  school,  and  selected  new 
young  women  for  teachers  on  Sunday  afternoons,  and  the  Catechists 
were  instructed  to  visit  and  tell  them  of  their  appointments,  and 
urge  them  to  undertake  the  work,  and  then  to  report  at  the 
adjourned  meeting. 


We  finally  discussed  the  suppers  and  dances  that  are  being  held 
and  given  here  this  winter.  They  are  gotten  up  by  white  men,  but 
the  Avomen  invited  are  Indian,  and  many  of  the  young  men  are  also 
invited.  These  dances  were  formerly,  when  the  Indians  were  at 
Crow  Creek  in  Dakota,  a  disgrace  to  humanity. 

But  lately  they  have  been  said  to  be  well  conducted,  and  we  have 
been  told  that  we  have  no  right  to  forbid  the  Indians  to  have 
sports,  and  to  fault  them  for  what  whites  do  without  censure.  I 
stated  the  case  to  our  meeting,  and  showed  the  danger  of  forbid 
ding  all  sports,  as  we  had  been  obliged  to  stop  all  Indian  games, 
for  they  either  pertained  to  their  heathen  religion,  or  were  games 
of  chance,  and  we  had,  as  yet,  not  been  able  to  make  any  substitute 
for  their  dances  or  sacred  feasts.  I  remembered,  too,  the  accusa 
tion  brought  against  the  first  missionaries  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
of  making  religion  too  austere. 

I  spoke  also  of  the  whites  having  their  children  taught  how  to 
dance,  as  Paul  had  seen  them  at  the  East.  I  then  asked  if  we  ought 
to  forbid  our  communicants  from  attending  well  conducted  dancing 
parties  among  the  whites,  and  suspend  those  from  the  communion 
who  disobeyed.  I  had  fairly  stated  the  case,  and  most  favorably 
for  the  offenders.  Paul  said,  "  As  far  as  I  am  able  I  will  oppose 
these  dances,  I  know  enough  of  it."  Philip  said,  "  Last  week 
an  Indian  was  struck  by  a  white  man  at  one  of  them,  the  white  man 
was  jealous."  Christian  said,  "They  are  bad  and  exert  no  good 
influence."  Joseph  said,  "Last  night,  New  Year's,  they  had 
whisky,  and  some  were  made  drunk,  and  there  was  almost  a  gen 
eral  trouble."  So  the  point  was  settled.  The  Church  at  the  Yank- 
ton  Agency  was  also  spoken  of,  and  it  was  agreed  that  as  the 
Yanktons  numbered  2500,  the  Church  should  not  seat  less  than 
500. 

At  eve  we  had  another  meeting.  All  present.  The  Catechists 
reported  all  the  newly  appointed  teachers  as  cheerfully  assenting 
to  act.  The  new  Catechist  also  consented,  and  his  wife  confessed 


her  fault.  She  said  their  little  child  had  been  taken  from  them 
because  the  Great  Spirit  knew  that  she  was  bad  at  heart,  and  not 
fit  to  bring  up  a  little  one  for  Him.  And  that  the  attentions  and 
instructions  of  our  Catechists  during  his  sickness  had  brought  her 
back  again  in  penitence  to  the  Saviour.  They  had  both  taken 
communion  together  at  the  last  administration,  and  had  made  new 
resolves  and  asked  for  new  grace. 

While  we  were  met,  a  young  Indian  came  to  bring  word  that 
one  of  my  Choir  Boys,  David,  was  very  sick,  and  that  as  his 
mother  and  all  his  near  relatives  were  away,  he  had  neither  care 
nor  medicine.  I  sent  Philip  and  Christian  down  right  away,  and 
promised  to  follow  with  medicine.  The  house  was  nearly  a  mile 
away,  in  the  edge  of  the  wood.  It  was  very  dark  and  I  lost  my 
way,  but  at  last  came  upon  some  Indian  lodges  in  the  midst  of  the 
wood,  and  found  the  way  to  them  by  the  sparks  from  their  fires. 
A  young  Indian  came  out  and  kindly  guided  me  to  the  right  trail. 
I  found  Philip  and  Christian  already  there,  and  David  very  sick, 
with  no  one  to  care  for  him  and  no  medicine.  I  gave  him  medi 
cine,  and  provided  to  have  him  taken  care  of  by  the  Catechists. 
A  young  man,  a  cousin  of  his,  who  was  present  said,  "  we  wish  to 
ask  you  to  read,  and  sing,  and  pray  with  him,  wo  have  books,  but 
110  candles."  It  was  quite  dark  in  the  room  (a  rude  log  cabin), 
so  I  asked  Philip  to  pray  with  and  for  him.  We  all  knelt,  and  he 
asked  in  his  behalf  God's  mercy  and  forgiveness. 

I  am  always  struck  with  the  beauty  and  simplicity  of  the  pray 
ers  of  our  Christian  Indians,  no  vain  repetitions  or  useless  rhetoric  ; 
but  simple  faith  and  earnestness.  I  came  home  promising  to  see 
him  in  the  morning. 

We  greatly  need  a  hospital  ! 

Arrived  at  home  I  found  a  poor  woman  who  had  come  to  us  for 
counsel  and  sympathy.  She  had  been  badly  beaten  by  a  cruel 
husband,  a  desperate  young  Indian,  he  had  beaten  her  because  she 
refused  to  go  with  him  to  the  New  Year's  dance.  She  said  she 
loved  him  and  could  not  leave  him,  she  had  tried  to  bear  with  him, 


and  make  him  better,  but  now  she  complained  bitterly  of  his  con 
tinued  cruelty,  and  seemed  heart-broken,  and  almost  discouraged. 
We  have  no  laic  here.  Paul  was  already  with  her  when  I  came 
home,  and  we  could  only  advise  her  not  to  be  hasty  in  what  she 
determined,  and  that  we  would  sec  him,  and  call  him  to  account. 

Paul  is  very  happy  to  be  at  work  again  in  our  catechetical  school. 

We  have  decided  to  have  our  children's  festival  on  Epiphany. 

January  3d. 
Second  Sunday  after  Christmas. 

At  Morning  Service,  Clergy  and  Choir  all  present,  and  a  good 
congregation.  I  preached  from  the  Gospel  for  the  day,  on  the  deep 
significance  of  the  name  Jesus,  Saviour.  There  was  an  unusual 
number  of  women  present.  I  baptized  a  little  boy  of  live  months  ; 
ho  was  named  Martin  ;  and  he  is  the  first  of  that  name  among 
the  Santces. 

At  two  o'clock  we  had  Litany  and  catechetical  school.  A  large 
number  present.  The  new  teachers  did  very  well.  The  singing 
of  the  children  was  very  spirited.  After  service  took  a  walk  to 
get  a  change  of  scene  and  fresh  air.  "Went  with  Joseph  Wapashaw 
to  the  site  of  our  new  Burying-Place.  A  beautiful  view  of  the 
Mission-House  and  Chapel.  It  seemed  too  good  to  be  true,  that 
we  have  such  goodly  buildings  for  our  worship,  and  our  far  off 
home.  Evening  Prayer  at  6  o'clock  ;  Paul  preached  a  very  earnest 
sermon  from  Ileb.  2-3.  "  How  shall  we  escape,  "  £c.  His  appeal 
to  his  own  people,  to  remember  all  their  troubles,  and  sickness  of 
heart,  and  to  appreciate  the  advantages  and  blessings  which  the 
gospel  now  brings  to  them,  was  very  touching.  And  his  allusion 
to  the  gift  ot  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  give  power  to  the  speaker,  grace 
to  the  hearer,  and  victory  to  the  word,  the  life  of  our  holy  religion, 
without  which  blessed  gift  we  speak  and  hear  and  do  in  vain,  was 
very  appropriate  and  effective,  for  their  heathen  religion  has  been 
one  of  works  only.  The  congregation  was  large ;  many  men 
present. 


8 

David  h  better  and  was  in  his  place  to-night,  much  to  my  sur 
prise,  but,  lie  said  he  could  not  stay  away.  Poor  people  !  the 
Church  and  our  services  here  are  the  only  bright  things  they  see. 

A  man  came  after  the  service  and  told  me  that  he  and  his  wife 
had  now  determined  to  conic  to  Church  every  Sunday,  and  to  pre 
pare  for  Confirmation  and  Communion.  Thus,  one  by  one  we  are 
reaching  this  whole  tribe. 

January  4.thf  Monday. 
Clear  and  beautiful  like  Spring. 

Went  to  Agency  and  secured  lumber  for  finishing  our  Church 
seats.  A  family  of  whites,  our  only  neighbors  off'  the  Reservation, 
nearer  than  ten  miles,  came  to  visit  us.  In  the  afternoon  I  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  weather,  and  walked  over  to  Paul's  farm,  where  I 
found  him  and  two  young  Indians,  very  busy  getting  out  logs  for 
his  new  house.  He  will  have  a  beautiful  place  ;  there  are  many 
trees  ;  and  a  stream  of  pure  water  comes  out  of  the  bluff,  near  by, 
and  runs  almost  around  his  plateau  of  land,  before  it  finds  an 
opening  in  the  hills  to  let  it  out  toward  the  river. 

I  made  one  call  at  the  house  of  a  Christian  Indian,  but  the  man 
was  away.  The  children  were  all  looking  forward  to  the  festival. 

The  mail  to-night  brought  us  a  promise  of  a  Missionary  box 
from  Reading.  I  am  very  thankful  that  God  is  putting  it  into  the 
hearts  of  Christian  people  to  think  more  of  these  poor  Indians. 

This  winter  many  are  almost  naked.  The  little  children  suffer 
most  of  all,  as  oft-times  the  only  blanket  in  the  family  has  to  bo 
worn  by  the  mother,  who  must  go  for  wood  and  water. 

January  5th,  Tuesday. 

This  morning  I  went  down  the  river,  beyond  the  Reservation, 
to  attend  to  the  settlement  of  my  last  year's  accounts.  There  is  a 
small  store  there  where  the  Indians  trade,  and  where  I  send  them 
with  their  orders  for  charity  or  for  work.  This  store  wae  broken 
into  on  Sunday  night,  and  nearly  all  the  goods  taken.  This  is  the 
third  robbery  within  six  months.  At  first  it  was  thought  to  be 


9 

Indians,  and  I  had  great  difficulty  in  saving  an  Indian  woman  from 
arrest  on  that  account  last  fall.  It  was  now  ascertained  that  it 
was  done  by  vagabond  whites  from  the  Dakota  side  of  the  river. 

The  proprietor  was  very  much  excited  about  it  yesterday,  and 
came  up  to  the  Agency  and  Mission-House.  Being  very  nervous 
he  forgot  and  neglected  to  lock  up  his  store.  It  was  open  all  day, 
he  away,  and  the  Indians  were  going  and  coming  to  trade,  some  of 
them  thought  he  had  given  up  his  business  in  a  fit  of  temporary 
insanity  or  disgust,  as  an  Indian  would  be  likely  to  do  under  the 
same  circumstances.  But,  though  the  building  was  visited  by  In 
dians  all  day,  he  assured  me  that  nothing,  nothing  at  all  had  been 
taken.  And  it  is  a  very  general  observation  with  us  that  the  In 
dians  here  arc  more  reliable  than  the  whites  that  stray  so  far  from 
civilization  and  a  settled  life. 

This  afternoon  I  have  been  busy  with  my  estimates  for  the  com 
ing  year.  They  appear  large,  but  they  are  really  very  small  when 
the  cost  of  living,  and  all  our  charities  are  taken  into  coiisidera. 
tion.  And  certainly  these  poor  people,  neglected,  abused  and 
robbed,  are  proper  subjects  for  Christian  charity;  and  every  Ame 
rican  ought  to  blush  with  shame,  if  he  be  not  willing  to  give  them 
every  blessing  that  they  need. 

Our  expenses  are  very  great,  but  I  have  tried  to  show  my  faith 
and  sinccrcst  interest  in  the  work.  To  it,  I  and  mine  have  given 
all  we  have. 

I  have  also  been  much  engaged  to-day  in  preparing  for  our 
Epiphany  services  and  rejoicings.  Many  have  signified  to  me  their 
wish  to  come  to  Holy  Communion.  We  are  very  careful  with 
our  Indian  communicants,  to  teach  them  the  dignity  and  the 
blessing  of  this  communion  with  the  Saviour,  lest  they  should 
come  without  knowledge,  or  with  superstitious  awe  and  faith,  as 
to  a  heathen  rite.  Wo  try  to  teach  them  truth  and  love,  not 
mingled  with  fear  or  superstition,  and  to  believe  that  very  many  of 
them,  will  have  glorious  places  at  our  Saviour's  next  appearing. 


10 

We  arc  done  with  our  preparation  for  our  Epiphany,  having  all 
of  us  worked  this  evening  on  the  last  things  for  the  children's 
tree. 

May  God  bless  them  in  their  joy,  and  us  in  our  ministries  for 
them. 

January  Gt7i,  Epiphany. 

We  had  service  at  dawn,  the  administration  of  the  Holy  Com 
munion,  a  goodly  congregation,  and  many  of  them  from  afar.  I 
spoke  to  them  of  the  blessings  that  come  to  us  through  this  gra 
cious  manifestation  of  Christ  to  the  Gentiles,  and  his  full  adoption 
of  U3  all  as  children  of  His  Father,  and  inheritors  of  His  glorious 
promises,  if  we  only  have  faith  to  lay  hold  of  Him.  And  also  of 
the  offerings  we  may  all  bring  to  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  more 
prized  by  Him  than  mines  of  gold,  or  clouds  of  incense,  or  most 
precious  balm,  the  offering  of  ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies,  on 
the  altar  of  consecration,  obedience  and  unfeigned  love  to  Him  who 
is  our  only  Saviour  and  our  King. 

Miny  ca?n3  to  Communion,  and  nearly  all  who  were  hindered  at 
Christmas  came  now  to  renew  their  vows  and  faith  for  the  service 
of  a  new  season  of  holy  joy. 

After  service,  Mrs.  Hinman,  and  the  Catechists  and  I  were  en 
gaged  nearly  all  day  in  preparing  our  list  of  names  and  directing 
last  preparations  for  our  Evening  Service  and  Festival.  We  all 
enjoyed  the  work  most  heartily. 

It  is  a  real  pleasure  to  work  for  the  joy  of  those  who  are  so 
friendless,  and  have  so  little  ever  to  make  them  glad  at  heart, 
and  almost  no  one  to  care  for  their  happiness  or  misery,  their  weal 
or  woe.  How  few  there  are  in  this  land  who  know  or  care  how 
these  children  live  or  die,  or  whether  or  not  they  all  grow  up  as 
warring  Ishmaels,  and  perish  without  knowledge  of  goodness  or 
of  God. 

This  afternoon  I  visited  a  sick  man  some  distance  from  the  Mis 
sion.  He  is  a  man  advanced  in  years,  who  has  for  some  time  been 


11 

receiving  Christian  instruction,  and  preparing  to  come  to  Holy 
Communion.  He  had  been  looking  forward  expecting  to  make  his 
first  communion  to-day,  but  last  night  was  taken  suddenly  and 
seriously  ill.  It  was  a  great  disappointment  to  him,  and  he  felt 
very  sad,  but  full  of  hope  and  thankfulness  that  God  had  been 
good  to  him,  and  yet  spared  his  life.  All  his  family  are  now  com 
municants  of  the  Church. 

This  eve  we  had  our  Service  and  festival  for  all  the  children.  It 
was  a  glorious  sight  and  yet  sad.  The  Chapel  was  full  of  young 
faces,  and  all  with  joyous  eyes.  The  tree  filled  the  centre  of  the 
Choir,  brilliant  with  its  lights  and  decorations,  and  gifts.  Even 
the  boughs  on  the  screen  were  ladcned  with  strange  tempting  fruit 
for  the  little  ones.  The  boys  and  girls  sang  their  best  carols,  and 
one  composed,  both  words  and  music,  by  Gco.  Dowanna  (Singer) 
their  leader.  We  had  something  for  every  child.  But  it  was  piti 
ful  to  see  their  poverty,  many  almost  naked.  How  they  live  at  all 
through  the  winter  I  do  not  know.  I  was  sorry  I  had  not  more 
clothing  for  them.  I  had  bought  yesterday  all  the  calico  that  could 
be  had  here  for  the  smallest  children,  and  I  am  sure  they  will  ap 
preciate  their  new  whole  garments.  We  let  them  go  early,  and 
yet  many  lingered  to  enjoy  the  beauty  of  the  scene,  and  the  older 
Indians  came  in  as  happy  as  children  to  see  the  strange  sight. 
We  are  all  very  tired,  but  it  has  been  a  blessed  day  for  us. 

Just  now  our  new  Catechist  elect  has  been  here  with  his  wife  to 
tell  mo  of  their  sincere  purpose  to  live  for  Heaven.  He  said, 
"  God  gave  us  a  little  child,  and  because  He  loved  it  He  has  taken  it 
homo.  The  good  words  of  your  young  men  who  prayed  with  us, 
and  advised  us,  and  finally  committed  our  darling  to  the  ground, 
touched  our  hearts,  and  their  earnestness  made  us  ashamed.  We 
have  prayed  daily  since  for  God's  grace  and  help,  and  if  it  be  His 
will,  I  am  ready  to  devote  myself  to  His  service  in  the  Mission  here, 
and  my  wife  has  promised  in  all  things  to  help  me  to  be  faithful." 

This  pleased  me  much  for  their  sake,  and  also  because  it  shows 


12 

how  humble  instruments  may  avail  for  Christian  work,  if  only  wo 
have  sincerity,  and  faith,  and  earnestness,  with  singleness  of  pur 
pose,  the  love  of  Jesus  and  His  joyful  service. 

God  grant  that  we  may  have  many  glorious  manifestations  of 
His  love  and  grace  during  this  year,  now  fairly  begun. 

January  7^7i,  Thursday. 
Still  beautiful,  but  to-night  a  little  colder. 

A  very  dull  day  after  yesterday's  excitement.  Took  a  long  walk 
and  found  everywhere  smiling  faces,  and  pleasant  words  about  last 
evening's  pleasure,  and  all  the  older  persons  complaining  that  our 
Chapel  is  too  small,  and  that  they  are  shut  out  from  the  pleasure 
and  interest  that  they  wish  to  take  in  all  our  efforts  for  the  in 
struction  and  well-being,  and  pleasure  of  the  Indian  children. 

I  found  my  sick  man  asleep  when  I  called,  and  I  did  not  disturb 
him,  but  was  much  moved  by  a  little  girl  entirely  blind  ;  she  can 
not  be  more  than  five  years  old,  and  wanting  for  all  the  care  that 
we  would  gladly  give  to  all  so  afflicted,  if  we  had  only  the  place  to 
care  for  them. 

I  saw  a  face  to-day  so  sad  that  I  knew  the  woman,  who  is  one  of 
our  most  sincere  Christians,  must  be  suffering  for  food.  Her  only 
son,  who  has  been  very  bad,  is  now  a  confirmed  invalid,  and  she 
has  only  the  trifle  that  the  Government  gives  them  for  the  support 
of  a  large  family.  I  had  nothing  for  her  with  me,  but  I  resolved 
that  on  my  very  first  opportunity,  I  would  do  something  for  their 
relief. 

To-night  the  mail  brings  me  five  dollars  for  charity,  and  I  am 
rejoicing  at  the  prospect  of  the  bright  and  thankful  face  that  will 
greet  me  when  I  go  to-morrow  with  flour  and  rice  for  their  unex 
pected  relief. 

The  mail  to-night  has  brought  us  also  many  kind  words  from 
friends  in  Boston. 

Paul's  address  there  interested  them  all  and  much,  and  made 


13 

them  see  what  a  real  work  God's  Holy  Spirit  had  wrought  here, 
even  among  heathen  Indians. 

May  He  in  mercy  hasten  the  day  when  we  shall  deal  righteously 
with  all  these  tribes.  I  know  we  cannot  suffer  while  we  are  hero 
engaged.  But  we  do  long  for  the  time  when  our  plans  completed, 
we  can  be  fully  equipped  for  attempting,  at  least,  all  that  we  feel 
ought  to  be  done  for  bettering  the  condition  of  the  Indians, 
and  for  their  salvation.  Many  of  them  now  appreciate  truth,  and 
love  the  way  of  peace  that  the  Gospel  reveals,  and  I  cannot  be 
lieve  that  their  temporal  salvation  is  at  all  impossible,  or  difficult, 
if  we  could  only  all  feel  it  to  be  our  duty  to  find  out  how  badly  off 
and  despised  they  are,  and  then  try  by  law,  and  by  Christian  kind 
ness  to  lead  them  to  a  knowledge  of  the  better  way. 

Therefore  I  say  that  Bp.  Whipple's  manly  statement  of  the 
wrongs  Indians  have  suffered,  though  it  be  called  one-sided  and 
warped,  is  just  what  the  men  of  this  nation  need  to  bring  them  to 
right  thoughts  and  understanding,  and  judgment  about  this  whole 
question  of  our  dealing  with,  and  care  of  and  for  the  Indians. 

January  8th,  Friday. 

We  have  been  busy  getting  ready  for  the  mail.  Had  a  good 
many  applications  for  charity.  This  sudden  cold  makes  the  chil 
dren  feel  the  necessity  of  warmer  clothing.  Some  came  here  to 
day  almost  naked,  and  fairly  red  with  the  biting  frost.  I  was  glad 
our  Christmas  boxes  had  enabled  us  to  relieve  them.  We  always 
give  to  all  that  ask,  and  I  always  feel  badly  when  I  must  refuse. 

But  the  great  event  to-day  has  been  the  birth  of  a  little  daughter 
to  Paul.  He  has  two  little  boys,  and  now  a  girl,  and  they  are  very 
happy. 

I  took  time  this  afternoon,  after  my  writing,  to  walk  three  or 
four  miles,  and  visit  all  the  sick.  Poor  Walker  is  dying,  day  by 
day  growing  weaker.  He  was  very  grateful  for  my  gift.  His  is  a 
sad  case,  lie  left  his  mother's  house,  because  she  reproved  him 


14 

for  his  sins  and  misdoings,  and  now  like  all  prodigals,  he  is  glad  in 
his  misfortune  to  be  taken  back. 

The  man  mentioned  on  Epiphany,  I  found  well.  He  had  been 
able  to  work  again  to-day,  he  was  very  glad  to  tell  me  how  well  ho 
felt,  and  to  thank  me  for  my  visit.  A  mile  further  down  I  found 
old  Kangi  Sapa,  (Black  Raven)  very  sick,  and  having  now  great  pain 
in  the  face.  He  was  formerly  our  crier,  before  we  had  a  Church- 
bell,  and  takes  credit  for  all  the  success  of  the  Mission.  He  says 
his  voice  is  strong,  and  to-day  he  said,  ' '  I  helped  the  Great  Spirit 
when  the  work  began,  and  I  was  well  and  happy,  but  ever  since  I 
stopped  working  for  Him,  I  have  been  unable  to  get  about,  but  I 
am  getting  well  now,  and  I  am  going  to  be  as  active  as  a  young 
man  in  all  good  words  and  works." 

His  nephew,  Wakinyanoyatc  (Thunder  Nation),  has  also  been 
sick,  and  gives  Paul  all  the  credit  of  his  recovery. 

It  is  very  pleasant  for  us  to  sec  the  Indians  so  thankful  for  all 
we  do  for  them.  It  is  Christianity  that  teaches  them  thankfulness. 

I  called  at  Good  Thunder's,  but  the  family  were  all  away,  and  I 
came  home  over  the  hills,  enjoying  the  grand  view  of  the  frozen 
river,  and  the  valley  fringed  with  the  gray,  cold-looking  cotton- 
woods,  and  then  flanked  hero  and  there  with  warm  tinted  chalk 
bluffs.  I  got  home  after  dark.  Passing  by  the  end  of  the  village 
I  heard  singing,  and  stopped  to  listen.  The  sound  came  from  a 
back  lodge  near  by,  and  I  drew  near  and  looked  in  at  the  single 
light  of  glass  which  served  as  a  window.  It  was  Dowanna,  my 
choir  leader.  He  was  seated  on  a  stool  in  the  centre  of  the  lodge, 
surrounded  by  Indian  girls.  His  voice  was  leading,  and  they  were 
singing  very  sweetly  that  Grand  Missionary  Psalm,  "Let  the 
nations  praise  Thee,  0  God,  yea,  let  all  the  nations  praise  Thee" 

Just  before,  passing  through  a  ravine  in  the  gathering  darkncf  R, 
I  heard  an  old  woman,  somewhere  on  the  high  bluffs  above,  wailir.g 
out  their  harsh  and  hopeless  chant  of  sorrow  and  mourning,  "Mi- 
chin-dii,  ta-ta-a-ta-a-a-a.  My  child  is  dead,  dead,  dead."  And 


15 

ending  at  each  repetition  with  an  outburst  of  grief,  and  sometimes 
with  spasms,  and  prostration,  rolling  upon  and  clinging  to  the 
earth. 

The  contrast  in  everything  between  these  two  chants  shows  out 
most  clearly  the  joyful,  thankful  spirit  of  our  most  holy  faith. 

January  Sth,  Saturday. 

A  day  of  preparation  for  Sunday.  A  good  many  applications  for 
food  and  some  that  we  could  not  relieve.  We  are  so  far  away  from 
supplies  that  we  have  to  give  with  caution,  lest  our  owrn  large 
household  should  suffer.  Yet  still  it  will  sometimes  happen,  and 
we  are  always  willing  to  bear  our  part  of  self-denial  or  hard 
ship.  I  have  translated  two  hymns  to-day,  one  "Abide  with  me," 
the  other  "  Nearer,  my  God  to  Thee,"  one  of  the  dearest  hymns  in 
our  language,  and  in  Dakota  it  is  very  solemn  and  beautiful. 

A  Chief  called  just  at  dusk  to  talk  about  the  fire-water  that  is 
being  brought  in  now  that  the  river  is  frozen.  The  other  day  an 
Indian  was  made  drunk  against  his  will  and  then  his  head  was 
split  open  by  the  same  parties  that  furnished  the  whisky. 

This  traffic  is  carried  on  very  slily  by  renegade  whites  and  part 
Indians,  and  the  end  is  always  outrage  and  suffering.  We  have 
comparatively  little  trouble  here  as  yet,  but  the  Indians  wonder 
why  we  have  no  laws  against  such  iniquity. 

This  evening  we  had  a  choir  meeting  of  our  girls  and  boys.  Mrs. 
Ilimnaii  was  able  as  of  old  to  lead  them.  We  practiced  "  Nearer 
to  thee, "  and  it  was  very  touching  to  hear  the  sweet  familiar  words 
in  the  strange  Indian  tongue.  Last  time"  I  heard  the  hymn  was  at 
the  Church  of  the  Advent,  Boston.  I  was  then  much  impressed 
with  its  solemn  sweetness,  and  promised  myself  that  it  should  be 
sung  in  our  own  dear  Chapel  here,  and  now  the  promise  is  being 
fulfilled.  After  the  singing  wre  gave  out  the  clothing  that  we  had 
for  the  boys  and  girls,  and  they  went  home  with  glad  hearts. 

I  know  of  nothing  that  interests  our  Indians  more,  and  has  a 
better  influence  upon  them,  than  the  sacred  psalms,  and  Christian 


13 

hymns  that  we  teach  them.  This  is  especially  the  case  with  the 
young. 

On  a  pleasant  night  the  Indian  villages  resound  for  hours  with 
the  joyful  music  of  their  songs  of  praise.  Our  hymnal,  heretofore, 
has  been  imperfect.  No  one  can  dream  of  the  comfort  and  power 
of  music  to  awaken  every  holy  emotion,  and  glorious  aspiration, 
until  he  has  heard  a  Christian  hymn  like  "Rock  of  Ages"  or  a 
"Psalm  of  Praise,"  sung  by  the  earnest  voices  of  a  whole  con 
gregation  of  those  who  believe  in  Him  who  "  inhabitcth  the  praises 
of  Israel." 

May  we  ever  look  to  Him  as  the  reality  of  all  our  thoughts,  our 
labors,  and  our  hopes. 

January  Wt7i,  First  Sunday  after  Epiphany. 

Clear,  bright,  and  beautiful. 

Morning  Prayer,  and  Ante-Communion,  at  1(H.  Large  congre 
gation,  some  going  away  for  want  of  room.  I  preached  from  the 
second  Lesson.  The  Epiphany  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus — and  the 
teaching  of  His  baptism,  a  contrast  between  real  and  pretended 
revelation,  between  the  teachings  of  God  and  Christ  and  those  of 
sorcerers, — the  promise  to  the  faithful  followers  of  the  meek  and 
lowly  Jesus,  and  the  gift  of  sonship.  The  congregation  was  very 
attentive,  and  I  tried  to  be  earnest.  I  saw  some  heads  hung  for 
shame. 

At  2  P.  M.,  Litany  and  catechetical  school.  Large  attendance, 
both  teachers  and  learners  seemed  interested  and  pleased.  V*rc  sung 
"Nearer  to  Thee." 

After  Service  I  went  with  my  little  Harry  for  a  walk.  We  went 
to  the  burying-place  on  the  hills  overlooking  the  Mission,  and  to 
the  grave  of  our  dear  friend,  and  glorious  example,  George  "VVapa- 
diaw.  The  grave  is  honored  by  the  Indians,  and  many  little  graves 
arc  now  clustered  around.  It  is  an  old  Indian  custom,  (and  wo 
have  not  forbidden  it,  for  all  nations  arc  tenacious  of  their  piety  for 
their  dead)  to  set  aside  at  every  meal  a  plate  of  food  for  the  missing 


It 

one,  this  is  placed  in  the  centro  of  the  lodge  or  carried  to  the  grave, 
jind  it  is  the  portion  of  the  first  poor  person  coming,  or  passing  by. 
It  is  a  beautiful  custom,  because  it  unites  tender  memory  of  the 
dead,  to  compassion  and  charity  for  the  living.  Therefore  we  have 
not  thought  it  right  to  forbid  it. 

I  mention  this  now,  because  I  was  much  touched  to-day  by  find*, 
ing  many  little  graves  strewn  with  cedar,  and  the  sugar-plums  and 
bon-bons  that  the  children  prized  so  much  at  our  late  festival.  They 
had  been  quietly  placed  there  as  childish  memories  of  little  brothers 
and  sisters  no  longer  hereto  share  their  joy.  Harry  says  "they 
love  their  little  brother,  that's  the  reason  they  put  them  there,  a'int 
it,  papa,  and  God  loves  them  too,  don't  he,  papa?" 

Evening  Prayer  at  6.  Chapel  crowded,  delightful  Service.  Paul 
preached  from  Phil,  iii,  13-14,  ''Brethren  I  count  not  myself  to 
have  apprehended,  &c."  I  was  more  struck  than  ever  with  the 
power  of  his  preaching,  and  appeal  to  his  own  brethren  after  the 
flesh.  It  shows  what  a  wonderful  advantage  a  native  has  over  any 
foreign  minister,  be  he  ever  so  earnest.  We  must  have  a  native 
ministry,  and  I  have  no  confidence  in  the  stability  or  right  judg 
ment  of  any  foreign  work,  until  they  have  such  help,  and  lay  such 
foundation.  Religion  can  never  flourish  as  an  exotic,  be  nations 
ever  so  like  in  speech,  and  every  mark  that  distinguishes  men.  The 
time  of  war  and  trouble  will  come,  the  foreigner  be  driven  off,  or 
rendered  helpless,  and  his  influence  be  destroyed,  and  of  all  the  work 
that  has  cost  self-denial,  and  years  of  labor  and  much  money,  there 
will  be  scarce  a  vestige  or  trace.  But  a  native  ministry,  sincere 
and  earnest,  will  gather  native  strength.  They  understand  their 
own  people,  their  character,  their  habits,  and  their  besetting  as  well 
as  their  less  heinous  sins.  If  truly  faithful,  and  heartily,  en 
tirely  and  cheerfully  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
they,  and  they  only  can  be  physicians  skilful  to  deal  with  the 
infirmities  of  their  own  race.  Make  sure  of  your  man,  be  satisfied 
that  the  conversion  is  real,  that  the  Christian  religion  is  understood 


18 

and  heartily  embraced,  and  God  will  bless  the  prayers  and  work  of 
such  an  one  with  success  above  that  awarded  to  the  evangelists  who 
first  preached  to  him,  or  to  the  doctors  who  translated  the  word  of 
God  in  his  difficult  tongue. 

The  Lord's  Day  here  is  the  busiest  of  the  week,  but  it  always 
brings  to  us  a  holy  joy,  and  a  visible  ten-fold  reward  for  all  our 
labors. 

January  11,  Monday. 

Our  day  of  rest  after  the  duties  and  excitement  of  Sunday.  I 
omitted  to  mention  the  baptism  of  an  adult  yesterday,  a  woman 
who  has  long  delayed  coming  to  Christ,  but  who  has  for  some  time 
been  desirous  of  baptism.  It  is  believed  that  there  arc  but  ten  un- 
baptized  adults  in  all  our  tribe. 

They  arc  a  quiet  and  orderly  people,  and  we  try  now  to  add  earn 
estness  and  zeal  to  their  professions. 

I  took  a  long  walk  among  the  lower  villages,  and  looked  in  upon 
the  Indians  in  their  homes  and  at  work.  Their  houses  now  compare 
favorably  with  those  of  the  white  pioneers,  and  the  men  are  making 
good  progress  at  learning  all  kinds  of  work. 

The  women  now  we  find  at  home,  engaged  with  house  duties  or 
sewing.  Coming  home  late,  I  went  with  Mary  after  dark,  to  see 
poor  Walker  (Marpiyahnihda,  Passing  Cloud).  He  is  failing  fast, 
and  we  have  no  place  to  properly  care  for  him.  His  mother  had  just 
got  home,  having  been  to  Yankton,  twenty-five  miles,  to  expend 
the  trifle  we  had  given  her  for  food.  By  going  to  a  town  they  avoid 
the  extortion  of  the  traders  here. 

We  next  went  to  Wapashaw's  and  found  the  house  crowded 
with  Ponka  Indians,  a  tribe  living  near  by  on  the  upper  side  of  the 
Kiobrara.  They  are  the  only  Indians  in  this  vicinity  who  do  not 
speak  the  Sioux.  They  have  been  under  treaty  with  the  Govern 
ment  for  ten  years,  and  yet  are,  if  possible,  more  squalid  and  mis 
erable  than  of  old.  They  were  almost  naked,  many  of  them  hav 
ing  no  clothing  but  a  buffalo  robe  and  moccasins. 


19 

Wapashaw,  our  head  Chief,  asked  them  why  they  had  come. 

One  who  spoke  Sioux  replied  : 

"  We  have  heard  the  Saiitecs  have  six  bands."  Wapashaw  says 
"yes."  Then  the  interpreter.  "Then  we  have  come  with  six 
pouches  of  tobacco  for  the  six  chiefs."  Wapasliaw  said  :  "Per 
haps  you  expect  to  dance  here."  "Yes  we  suppose  so."  Wapa 
sliaw  then  said,  "Then  I  must  tell  you  that  we  have  given  up  all 
those  customs,  we  are  no  longer  wild  men,  we  have  now  a  higher 
trust.  We  have  no  horses  for  you,  and  if  you  dance  at  our  doors, 
none  of  our  people  will  give  you  food.  It  is  true  that  we  are  In 
dians,  and  that  we  grew  up  with  all  these  foolish  customs,  but  for 
a  long  time  we  have  given  them  up,  and  we  arc  trying  to  live  like 
men.  Sometimes  wild  Indians  come  here  and  dance,  but  it  does 
not  please  our  people,  it  makes  us  feel  foolish  and  crazed."  Wa 
pasliaw  then  asked  if  their  agent  had  not  told  them  how  they 
ought  to  live. 

They  answered,  "  No,  their  agent  always  gave  them  a  feast,  and 
presents  for  the  dancers  who  visited  them." 

I  then  told  them  plainly  of  the  Indians'  only  hope,  that  they 
must  become  industrious  and  wise,  or  perish.  They  assented  to 
all  I  said,  and  looked  at  me  with  sad  wondering  eyes,  astonished 
to  hear  a  white  man  speak  an  Indian  language,  and  give  them 
good  advice.  Poor  fellows,  they  are  ruined  unless  speedy  mea 
sures  are  taken  for  their  relief  and  instruction. 

The  mail  brought  us  kind  words  from  Boston  and  New  York 
friends,  and  notice  of  another  box  of  clothing  from  Boston,  for 
which  we  are  most  thankful. 

Bishop  Whipple  also  writes  full  of  love  for  the  Indians.  Surely 
God  has  raised  him  up  to  be  their  defence,  and  ministering  angel. 

January  12,  Tuesday. 

Been  engaged  to-day  in  writing  for  the  mail.  I  find  this  the 
most  trying  part  of  my  duties ;  it  is  easy  and  pleasant  to  work, 


20 

where  there  is  so  much  to  do,  and  where  we  find  such  willing 
listeners  to  our  words,  but  it  is  very  hard  to  write  to  others  about 
what  one  is  trying  to  do,  and  to  tell  of  successes  which  are  in 
reality  but  God's  blessing  upon  His  own  work.  It  seems  so  akin 
to  selfishness,  and  glorying  in  one's  own  strength  and  influence, 
that  I  always  shrink  from  writing  about  the  Mission  work,  or  from 
telling  it  by  word  of  mouth.  If  it  is  God's  work,  and  if  done 
according  to  His  will,  and  in  His  way  the  blessing  is  assured,  and 
there  is  no  room  for  personality,  and  no  right  in  its  bearing  the 
name  of  any  human  instrument,  for  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons, 
and  in  our  superlative  weakness  one  man  is  as  another  before 
Him  and  each  and  every  one  utterly  unworthy  to  minister  for  Him. 

I  have  planned  and  begun  an  enlargement  of  our  rude  and  tem 
porary  school-house,  and  hope  before  many  days  to  have  room 
enough  for  all  our  children.  The  buildings  are  of  rough  logs,  but 
they  will  be  warm  and  comfortable.  The  greatest  trial  is  to  our 
teachers,  their  health  must  suffer,  for  here  especially,  all  the  build 
ings  used  for  congregations  of  adults  or  children  should  be  large 
and  well  ventilated. 

Mrs.  Hinman  has  been  working  for  others  all  day,  and  has  made 
the  hearts  of  some  widows  glad  by  gifts  of  warm  garments  sent 
by  our  Philadelphia  friends. 

I  have  visited  two  sick  persons  to-day,  and  had  a  long  talk  with 
one.  He  was  very  thankful  for  the  improved  moral  tone  of  the 
whole  tribe.  He  called  my  attention  especially  to  the  conver 
sions  being  made  among  the  older  men  who  have  been  most  tena 
cious  of  Indian  customs  and  manner  of  thought,  and  to  the  in 
creasing  numbsr  of  men  advanced  in  years  who  are  becoming 
regular  attendants  upon  all  the  Services  of  the  Church. 

He  was  rejoiced  at  the  effect  of  this  upon  the  young  men  who 
were  becoming  more  serious  and  sedate.  Formerly  they  made 
night  hideous  with  their  revels,  but  now  it  is  as  quiet  here  at  night 
as  in  any  village  of  whites. 


21 

Standing  Soldier  complained  to  me  of  the  bad  conduct  of  two 
members  of  my  choir.  He  said  he  had  talked  with  the  choir  lead 
er,  and  told  him  to  choose  his  boys  and  girls  from  the  whole  tribe, 
and  take  only  those  who  were  quiet  and  gentle,  and  devout,  that 
the  men  of  the  congregation  had  determined  to  have  no  Catcchists, 
or  teachers,  or  singers  who  were  not  in  all  things  a  pattern  for 
their  people,  whom  we  were  trying  to  teach  and  lift  up.  I  am 
very  thankful  for  such  a  determination,  it  is  worthy  of  all  imitation. 

January  13<7i,  Wednesday. 

At  work  all  day  constructing  chimney  and  fire-place  in  school 
room.  I  find  our  Indians  always  ready  and  willing  to  work,  but 
they  are  so  unskilled  and  ignorant  of  proper  ways  and  shapes,  that 
they  need  constant  supervision  and  help. 

Mrs.  Ilinman  finds  the  same  difficulty  in  her  department,  and  it 
adds  much  to  our  care,  and  occupies  much  time,  because  we  have 
always  to  keep  everything  that  is  going  on  in  mind.  This  of  course 
will  be  changed  in  time,  and  it  is  part  of  our  duty  to  teach  our 
people  how  to  work,  and  in  every  way  how  to  improve  their  con 
dition.  Willingness  to  work  and  readiness  to  learn  are  great  steps 
already  accomplished.  When  WTC  went  first  to  Redwood,  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  get  any  of  them  to  work,  or  even  try  to  im 
prove  their  situation. 

I  am  thankful  to  notice  each  day  the  new  hopes  that  the  best  of  our 
men  have  for  the  future.  The  stolid  indifference  and  sad  dejec 
tion  so  common,  almost  universal,  among  the  Indians,  are  giving 
way  to  cheerfulness  of  spirit,  and  brighter  anticipations. 

To-day  Wanmdipxun  (Eagle  Fan)  came  and  seemed  so  happy, 
because  their  uncertain  way  of  life  and  thought  had  now  given 
way  to  certain  reward  of  daily  labor,  and  a  sure  trust  in  the  living 
God. 

I  sometimes  think  the  Christian  Indians  prize  their  faith  in  the 
new  found  Saviour,  and  the  privileges  of  membership  in  His  holy 
Fellowship,  more  than  we,  because  the  world  of  comfort  it  opens 


22 

to  them  is  new,  and  tlicir  faith  is  so  much  more  simple,  confiding 
and  childlike. 

We  have  just  come  from  the  last  Communion  of  this  holy  sea 
son.  To-day,  the  octave  of  Epiphany,  closes  the  joyful  homage 
that  we  have  been  paying  to  our  new-born  Saviour.  The  Chapel 
was  crowded  to  overflowing,  and  all  seemed  so  earnest  in  prayer 
•and  so  attentive  to  the  words  I  spoke,  that  I  myself  was  much 
moved.  I  spoke  from  the  answer  of  the  child  Jesus  to  His  parents, 
''Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?"  The 
business,  that  as  new  "made  members  of  Christ  and  children  of 
God,"  must  throughout  this  year,  and  every  day  be  our  chief 
concern. 

Over  a  hundred  came  to  Communion,  among  them,  the  last  of 
those  who  had  been  hindered  at  Christmas  and  Epiphany. 

So  we  turned  our  faces  from  our  Christmas  joy,  and  now  are 
looking  forward  through  these  weeks  of  preparation  to  a  holy 
Lent,  and  farther  off  to  a  glad  and  happy  Easter.  Some  of  us  will 
never  see  it  here,  but  may  the  dear  Saviour  grant  to  bring  us  all 
through  the  grave  and  gate  of  death,  to  be  gathered  at  His  right 
hand,  and  then  to  be  ever  with  Him,  to  minister  to  Him  in  His 
everlasting  kingdom. 

January  14.th,  18G9. 
Clear  and  beautiful. 

Another  day  at  building,  and  we  are  nearly  done. 

Paul  also  has  his  new  house  almost  finished.  It  is  quite  largo, 
and  the  young  men  generally  have  taken  pleasure  in  helping  him. 

My  translations  and  writing  confine  me  so  constantly  that  I  find 
the  out  door  work  does  me  much  good.  It  is  really  a  pleasant 
feeling  to  be  right  tired,  and  anxious  for  bodily  rest. 

We  had  our  Thuridiy  afternoon  Service  at  Pay-pay's  house. 
The  building  which  is  quite  large,  for  this  country,  was  filled  with 
our  Christian  women.  I  thought  of  the  friends  who  were  praying 
with  us,  and  we  asked  God's  best  blessings  upon  them  all. 


23 

The  mail  this  evening  brought  us  no  tidings.  We  miss  so  much 
our  letters  and  papers  ;  they  are  our  only  communication  with  the 
outside  world. 

Poor  Walker  is  very  low.  When  Miss  West  went  there  yesterday, 
he  asked  for  an  English  Prayer  Book,  as  he  had  first  learned  of  the 
Great  Spirit  in  our  language.  It  seems  a  pleasure  now  to  him,  to 
recall  the  years  spent  at  Faribault,  and  he  often  mentions  the  kind 
ness  of  Dr.  Breck,  and  of  good  Bp.  Whipple  and  family.  When  I 
went  to  him  this  evening,  I  found  an  Indian  Doctor,  who  had  been 
called  to  see  him.  The  Government  Physician  has  charge  of  three 
tribes,  and  is  often  absent,  and  so  some  of  the  Indians  have  under 
taken  the  practice  of  medicine  in  their  simple  way.  They  do  their 
patients  no  harm,  and  some  of  their  remedies  are  very  good.  Stand 
ing  outside  the  lodge,  I  heard  the  Dr.  speaking,  and  stopped  to  lis 
ten.  His  remarks  were  on  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  the  remedies 
the  Great  Spirit  had  given  them,  in  roots,  and  herbs,  and  minerals, 
''remedies  that  though  used  in  the  heathen  practice  of  the  old 
medicine  men,  yet  God  had  intended  for  His  children  everywhere. " 
He  said,  "  we  ought  to  be  thankful  for  these,  as  well  as  food,  and 
light,  and  heat ;  that  God  gave  them,  and  He  could  make  them 
powerful  for  good,  and  that  therefore  we  ought  always  to  ask  His 
blessing  and  help,  before  we  try  to  help  one  whose  life  or  death  are 
in  His  keeping.  "  He  then  knelt  down  and  prayed  that  "  God 
would  bless  his  patient — keep  away  from  him  all  evil,  and  give  him 
the  strength  and  comfort  of  his  Holy  Spirit— would  bless  the  means 
used  for  his  recovery,  or  if  He  called  him  home,  take  away  all  fear, 
and  give  him  holy  light  along  the  dark  and  lonely  way.  "  (Seeing 
me  coming  in  he  said,)  "O  Lord  one  of  thy  ministering  servants 
is  here  with  us,  bless  him  also  ;  though  he  is  strong,  strengthen 
him  more  and  more  with  Thy  Holy  Spirit ;  though  he  is  wise,  give 
him  yet  more  and  more  of  heavenly  wisdom  ;  bless  all  the  words 
of  his  mouth,  and  all  the  work  of  his  hands,  and  grant  that  the  con 
gregation  of  which  he  is  the  shepherd,  may  be  ever  glorious  through 


all  divine  gifts,  and  ever  full  of  newness  of  life  through  all  good 
works." 

I  am  thankful  to  be  able  to  think  that  my  people  are  so  prayerful. 
Always  believing  in  prayer  and  trustfully  asking  God's  blessing 
upon  every  hope  or  undertaking. 

January  loth,  1809. 
A  bright  beautiful  day. 

Writing  for  the  mail,  and  superintending  our  building.  In  tha 
afternoon  took  a  walk.  Found  the  Indians  improving  the  day  by 
outside  work.  Some  cutting  wood,  some  getting  out  fencing,  and 
others  repairing  their  houses.  Every  time  I  go  out  I  notice  the 
improvement  in  their  manner  of  life.  Tables,  chairs,  and  white 
dishes  and  table  ware  are  now  common,  and  to-day  I  find  several 
trying  their  skill  at  making  bedsteads,  and  some  already  up.  I 
was  much  amused  at  an  old  woman's  ghost  story  ;  I  asked  her  age, 
and  she  said,  "I  don't  know,  all  the  nation  knows  that  I  can  re 
member  no  farther  back  than  the  time  I  was  killed,  and  nearly 
carried  away  by  ghosts.  "  And  she  went  on  giving  all  the  particu 
lars  of  the  adventure,  which  happened  years  ago  at  a  Lake,  which 
I  well  remember  near  Faribault ;  she  seemed  to  believe  it  all,  but 
the  Indians  present,  who  know  better  could  not  restrain  their 
laughter. 

Pay-pay  was  here  to-night,  glorying  in  his  new  log  house  ;  which 
he  said  could  hold  sixty  men  at  their  cottage  services,  and  I  have 
just  come  from  a  service  held  there.  The  service  on  Friday  even 
ing  is  especially  for  the  young  men,  and  is  intended  to  give  them  a 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  its  teachings.  We  also  try  to  teach 
them  the  duty  and  necessity  of  prayer,  and  to  ask  God  believing 
that  they  will  receive  what  they  ask  in  humble  faith  and  trust  in 
Him.-  The  services  are  quite  informal  and  very  hearty.  The  only 
prescribed  forms  being  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  Creed  which  we  al 
ways  use,  and  the  other  devotions  and  hymns  are  at  the  will  of  the 
Catcchist  who  conducts  the  Services. 


25 

The  Lccturo  is  plain  and  practical,  and  \vc  teach  often  by  ques 
tion  and  answer.  We  feel  the  neod  and  the  blessing  of  these  infor 
mal  services,  because  it  brings  us  in  direct  contact  with  the  mind 
and  heart  of  our  people,  and  because  it  teaches  them  not  to  rest 
their  faith  upon  the  Ministry,  or  the  Sacraments,  or  the  Ritual  of 
the  House  of  Prayer,  but  to  make  their  own  calling  and  hope  the 
subject  of  thought  and  heartfelt  prayer.  The  meeting  to-night 
was  very  interesting,  and  I  feel  that  very  many  of  their  prayers 
are  heard  and  answered. 

Dowanna,  the  chorister,  came  to  mo  very  diffidently,  after  the 
Service,  to  tell  me  that  ho  was  writing  a  book  which  was  now 
nearly  done,  a  history  of  the  religious  and  superstitious  customs 
of  the  heathen  Dakotas.  Ho  is  to  bring  it  to-morrow  for  me  to 
read  and  revise. 

The  Indians  excel  in  writing,  as  in  speaking ;  they  have  a  natural 
simplicity  and  beauty  of  style  that  is  very  attractive,  and  their 
figures  and  similics  arc  always  well  drawn,  and  to  the  point. 

It  is  a  wonder  to  me  how  readily  they  learn  to  read  our  language  ; 
little  fellows  will  read  correctly  page  after  page  of  their  school 
books,  and  be  able  to  spell  every  word,  and  yet  not  comprehend 
the  meaning  of  a  single  sentence.  I  judge  them  therefore  to  be 
good  at  imitation,  but  not  quick  of  comprehension,  and  to  have 
very  little  ingenuity  at  inventing  any  new  means  or  ways. 

January  1C,  I860. 

The  day  of  preparation.  A  busy  day  with  us,  and  among  the 
Indians  called  "the  floor-washing  day,"  because  all  the  Christian 
Indians  on  this  day  put  their  houses  in  order  and  prepare  their 
clothing  for  Sunday.  This  custom  has  become  general,  and  now 
also  they  cut  their  wood  and  do  their  trading  on  Saturday,  so  that 
Sunday  is  really  a  day  of  rest.  I  have  been  writing  in  our  new 
Hymn  book,  revising  Dowanna' s  history  (which  I  found  really  very 
creditable),  superintending  our  new  building,  and  visiting  among 
our  people.  I  find  many  things  to  make  me  sad.  Enemies  of  all  good 


26 

works  always  busy  for  evil,  and  then  when  these  things  are  discov 
ered  by  the  Indians,  and  we  are  questioned  about  them,  we  cannot 
but  blush  for  shame  to  think  of  the  years  of  ignorance  and  squalid 
misery  that  these  people  have  endured  because  of  our  wrong  doing. 

This  evening  a  Yankton  Indian  (Flying  Pipe),  the  head  soldier 
of  the  chief  called  Feather  in  Ear,  came  to  see  me. 

He  had  walked  forty  miles  to  be  here  to-morrow.  He  said  his 
people  were  looking  this  way  for  help,  because  they  could  see  the 
light  here  from  far.  He  wanted  me  to  tell  him  candidly  what  was 
to  be  the  fate  of  the  Indians.  He  said  if  the  present  mode  of  caring 
for  them  were  to  be  continued,  they  might  as  well  give  up  all  hope 
at  once. 

They  had  now  been  ten  years  in  charge  of  the  Government, 
and  they  were  really  worse  off  than  when  they  made  their  treaty. 
Their  present  agent  had  been  very  kind  to  them,  but  was  powerless 
to  help  them,  and  was  now  going  away  believing  that  nothing  could 
be  done  to  better  their  condition.  His  wife  also  had  been  like  a 
mother  to  them,  feeding  the  hungry  and  even  teaching  their  chil 
dren,  but  now  she  too  was  giving  them  up,  and  there  seemed  no 
hope.  But  he  had  seen  light  here,  and  had  come  to  beg  that  we 
would  be  their  friends,  and  establish  a  school  and  hospital  at  their 
agency. 

He  ended  by  saying  '"our  old  men  arc  foolish  and  ignorant,  and 
our  chiefs  are  bought  up  for  a  trifle,  but  I  know  that  we  have  many 
young  men  who  arc  not  bad,  and  who  earnestly  desire  to  learn  a 
better  way  of  life. 

We  know  that  you  have  benefittcd  and  lifted  up  the  Santees, 
come  now  and  help  us." 

January  17,  18G9. 

At  Morning  Prayer  congregation  large.  My  Yaiikton  friend 
came  late  to  Church,  and  could  not  get  inside  the  door. 

I  preached  from  the  Epistle  for  the  day,  a  practical  sermon  to  our 
Catcchists,  and  teachers,  and  chiefs,  and  to  all  Christians  on  their 
duties  in  their  several  stations  and  callings. 


27 

It  was  one  of  the  few  services  of  the  year  without  a  baptism.  In 
the  afternoon  catechetical  school  as  usual,  and  a  large  number 
present.  One  of  our  Indian  teachers  was  absent,  but  she  came  just 
at  evening  to  tell  me  that  she  had  no  shoes  or  moccasins  to  wear, 
and  had  borrowed  a  pair  for  the  Evening  Service.  At  Evening 
Prayer,  the  Chapel  was  more  crowded  if  possible  than  ever  before. 
Imagine  a  church  with  every  seat  full,  and  then  an  extra  adult  and 
two  or  three  children  crowded  into  each  one,  then  the  aisle  and  all 
the  space  before  the  Chancel  occupied  by  persons  seated  on  the  floor, 
and  the  entrances  both  from  the  house  and  from  outside  also  filled, 
and  you  have  a  picture  of  what  we  call  a  good  congregation.  When 
we  have  a  square  foot  or  two  of  room  to  spare,  the  congregation  is 
considered  small. 

Paul  preached  from  Mark  vi.  6,  on  the  duty,  comfort,  and  bless 
ing  of  prayer,  and  urged  the  Christians  to  commune  with  God  by 
prayer,  not  only  at  stated  times,  but  also  while  at  work  or  at  rest, 
or  as  they  walked  by  the  way. 

I  am  made  continually  sad  by  the  opposition  and  jealousy  that 
our  work  provokes.  If  we  could  only  be  let  alone,  and  be  allowed 
to  quietly  mind  our  own  business,  and  to  do  it,  it  would  be  a  happy 
life,  but  as  it  is  and  we  wTork  day  by  day  alone,  far  separated  from 
friends  whose  kind  words  and  prayers,  and  alms  given  of  God  sus 
tain  us  and  all  around  us,  and  near  about  us — the  words  that  do 
reach  our  ears  are  unkind  and  full  of  mis-judgment.  And  we  can 
not  answer  nor  stop  our  ears,  but  must  work  on.  If  earthly  helpers 
were  our  trust,  we  must  bear  up  and  wait  for  the  comfort  of  their 
encouragement,  but  as  it  is  we  go  about  our  daily  work,  and  some 
word  of  kindness  from  a  poor  body  we  have  befriended,  or  some 
prayer  by  the  bedside  of  a  trusting  child,  and  all  is  forgotten  ;  and 
as  are  our  days,  so  God  sends  us  strength  of  heart,  and  oftentime 
great  peace  and  joy. 

And  these  too  are  the  feelings  that  our  Sabbaths  bring  us  after 
the  sameness  of  the  routine  of  six  days  of  work.  But  it  sometimes 


28 

brings  an  awful  feeling  when  we  look  upon  such  success  as  that  of 
this  Indian  work. 

St.  Paul  felt  it  when  he  said  "Lest  while  I  preach  to  others,  I 
myself  should  be  a  cast-away." 

And  when  I  look  over  these  large  congregations  apparently  de 
vout  and  earnest,  I  sometimes  ask  myself  with  fear,  after  all  are 
not  many  of  these  poor  people  indulging  a  vain  hope,  and  am  not  I 
to  be  held  responsible  for  their  ignorance  and  delusion?  And  I  can 
only  answer  by  comparison  with  work  in  other  fields,  and  by  more 
earnest  prayer  and  endeavor  to  make  everything  that  we  do  here  as 
plain  and  practical  as  possible. 

Januaryl^  18G9. 

A  very  busy  clay  preparing  for  the  Christmas  term  of  our  school. 
The  building  is  at  last  ready,  but  we  have  all  worked  hard. 

I  have  had  too  a  long  talk  with  the  warden  of  our  congregation. 
lie  represents  the  opinion  of  the  Indians,  and  thinks  the  time  has 
come  when  the  Government  should  do  away  with  the  tribal  system 
here,  and  abolish  the  office  of  Chief,  and  as  far  as  possible  put  these 
Indians  on  the  same  footing  as  white  men.  I  agree  with  him  fully. 

These  petty  divisions  and  many  chiefs  keep  the  Indians  in  per 
petual  unrest,  and  provoke  numberless  jealousies,  for  where  there 
arc  many  heads  there  must  be  a  strife  for  the  mastery. 

The  opinions  of  my  warden  are  of  some  weight,  because  he  him 
self  is  the  son  of  a  Chief,  and  according  to  present  custom  would 
succeed  him. 

Yesterday  was  my  thirtieth  birthday.  And  as  I  look  back,  the 
whole  past  seems  full  of  mis-conceptions  and  mistakes. 

Yet  I  suppose  it  is  the  history  of  every  life.  We  learn  by  expe-r 
rience  ;  and  at  thirty  years  perhaps  our  real  work  begins. 

Some  peculiarly  blessed  may  make  their  work  tell  in  younger 
years,  but  it  must  usually  take  the  practice  and  experience  of  many 
days  to  teach  us  how  to  work  and  economize  all  our  material  and 
our  power.  And  we  look  forward  to  still  other  years  to  be  passed 


29 

and  lived  for  the  one  object  of  bringing  lasting  blessings  upon  these 
Indians.  It  is  impossible  to  waive  thought  of  self  and  personal 
comfort  when  we  look  forward  to  the  future,  and  yet  I  suppose  such 
thoughts  ought  not  to  be  entertained,  but  that  the  work  to  be  done 
and  that  to  be  perfected  ought  to  fill  all  the  vision.  May  it  indeed 
be  henceforth  a  single  service.  And  then  the  past — the  mistakes 
to  be  avoided — the  work  to  be  better  done — and  all  the  blanks  to 
be  kept  filled  up  \vith  active  work.  All  this  will  require  caution, 
and  wisdom,  and  steadfast  purpose.  May  we  be  rightly  guided  ; 
have  new  wisdom  and  strength  and  ability  to  use  our  experience 
aright.  That  so  year  by  year  w^e  may  grow  up  to  be  more  and  more 
fitted  for  such  serious  and  earnest  and  blessed  work. 

Our  mail  brings  us  good  tidings  from  our  Philadelphia  friends, 
and  the  kind  words  that  always  make  glad  hearts. 

January  19,  1869. 

First  day  of  school  for  winter  term.  We  had  looked  for  a  small 
attendance.  Many  of  the  Indians  are  away,  and  many  of  the  chil 
dren  so  poorly  clad  that  they  cannot  come  any  distance  in  cold 
weather.  Our  twTo  rooms  were  crowded  and  we  heard  our  classes 
with  difficulty.  I  am  assisted  by  Miss  West  and  Philip.  One  of 
our  Indian  teachers  declined  to  serve,  as  she  felt  that  she  ought  to 
be  a  learner.  I  feel  very  much  the  need  of  more  teachers,  and  of 
those  that  will  work  conscientiously  and  from  the  love  of  the  good 
that  they  may  do. 

I  have  every  care  and  my  candidates  to  instruct,  and  my  writing 
and  visiting.  But  when  I  leave  the  school  the  interest  flags,  and 
any  one  who  w^orks  for  aught  but  from  a  sense  of  duty  soon  tires  of 
the  monotony  and  necessary  sameness  of  the  school-room  duty, 
and  so  becomes  worthless  for  missionary  work. 

We  have  to  get  up  interest  in  the  school -room  ;  get  the  children 
to  attend,  furnish  books  and  teachers,  and  keep  up  among  the  chil 
dren  as  far  as  we  can,  the  desire  to  learn.  In  all  this  we  have  no 

encouragement  from  without,  except  such  as  we  have  created,  and 
3* 


30 

no  one  in  the  whole  country  cares  one  straw  whether  these  Indian 
children  arc  taught  or  not,  and  very  few  would  care  to  have  them 
different  or  better  than  they  now  are.  So  there  are  obstacles  enough 
to  discourage  any,  and  hard  and  thorough  work  to  discourage  those 
who  would  be  at  ease;  and  then  the  ignorant  and  unattractive,  and 
oftentimes  offensive  condition  of  those  to  be  taught,  to  drive  away 
every  vestige  of  romance. 

It  is  work  indeed,  and  if  we  cannot  get  the  helpers  willing  to  bear 
their  part  of  the  burden,  the  work  must  stop  here,  and  it  is  possible 
we  must  depend  on  native  help. 

We  need  more  than  any  can  well  know  the  encouragement  of  all 
those  who  would  do  these  people  good. 

January  20,  186D. 

At  work  in  school  and  out  much  as  usual.  I  think  I  have  never 
known  our  children  to  show  so  much  interest. 

For  some  time  their  school  has  been  an  amusement  for  them,  and 
a  pleasant  change  in  the  monotony  of  their  daily  life.  But  now  they 
take  hold  with  a  zest  and  seem  really  anxious  to  acquire  knowledge. 

But  as  they  now  are,  and  have  been  heretofore,  what  a  life  they 
lead  !  Nothing  to  do  in  childhood  and  youth,  no  discipline,  and  no 
training  for  any  future  calling  or  work. 

Exhorted  to  abandon  hunting,  and  with  no  means  or  encourage 
ment  to  open  farms,  no  education  to  any  trade,  merely  subsisted 
and  played  with  by  the  Government,  hundreds  of  Indians  are  fast 
becoming  mere  beggars,  and  their  children  growing  up  without 
knowledge  of  any  honest  or  manly  way  of  obtaining  a  livelihood. 

All  our  treaties  are  more  or  less  imperfect  or  defective,  and  do 
either  too  much  or  too  little  for  them  ;  and  they  are  usually  so 
loosely  worded,  that  monies  may  be  mis-applied  and  sometimes  an 
sums  expended  for  subsistence  only  ;  and  so  every  retiring  agent 
leaves  his  Indians  in  the  same  condition  that  he  found  them,  or  per 
haps  more  badly  off.  And  all  the  agencies  are  temporary  rude 
buildings,  not  adapted  for  any  of  the  purposes  for  which  they  diould 


31 

be  designed,  for  the  improvement  and  lasting  benefit  of  the  Indians. 
Wapashaw  came  to  night  and  gave  me  one  of  his  long  sensible  talks 
about  the  condition  of  his  people.  It  always  does  me  good  to  hear 
his  wants  and  hopes,  for  they  are  all  good.  And  I  wonder  at  his 
patient  waiting.  For  years  his  people  have  been  improving  and 
becoming  christianized,  and  in  everyway  more  and  more  like  whites. 
And  he  has  been  trying  to  get  them  settled  and  located  on  farms, 
and  at  work,  planting  and  caring  for  stock. 

All  who  hear  his  appeals  are  impressed  with  his  earnestness  and 
good  sense,  and  still  he  has  not  as  yet  been  able  to  make  the  proper 
authorities  believe  that  an  Indian  needs  aught  but  scarlet  blankets, 
scalping  knives,  and  paint. 

And  the  idea  that  an  Indian  should  want  a  home,  honestly  and 
really  secured  to  him  as  his  own  for  himself  and  his  children,  seems 
to  be  looked  upon  by  most  persons,  and  by  many  who  ought  to  be 
better  informed,  as  simply  preposterous  and  ridiculous. 

But  we  begin  to  have  better  hopes. 

January  21,  1869. 

School  very  interesting,  all  seemed  eager  to  learn. 

This  afternoon  had  school  for  work.  Miss  West  is  teaching 
knitting,  and  is  much  pleased  to  find  the  girls  so  apt. 

I  visited  one  of  my  boys  suddenly  taken  sick.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Choir,  and  has  not  been  absent  during  the  entire  year.  I  found 
him  very  low,  with  a  burning  fever. 

I  could  do  very  little  for  him,  and  only  pray  for  the  time  when 
we  may  have  a  hospital  where  we  can  care  for  our  sick. 

Coming  over  the  hills  as  our  bell  was  ringing,  it  was  a  pleasant 
sight  to  see  the  Indian  women  gathering  from  every  direction  for 
the  Thursday  prayers.  These  meetings,  entirely  conducted  by  the 
Christian  women,  have  been  kept  up  uninterruptedly  for  over  two 
years,  and  the  interest  has  not  nagged,  and  the  numbers  and  earn 
estness  have  constantly  increased. 

Arrived  at  the  Mission,  I  found  a  Yankton  chief  (Dolurio),  who 


had  come  down  from  Fort  Randall  to  consult  with  me,  and  as  ho 
caid  to  pray  to  me  to  hear  him  for  his  people.  He  began  with  the 
usual  Indian  compliments  : 

"Koda,  (friend)  you  are  small  in  stature,  but  your  name  has 
grown  large,  so  that  you  seem  to  us  like  a  pine  tree  of  a  ravine, 
tall  and  straight.  You  are  a  boy  in  years,  but  we  know  that  your 
words  reach  the  ears  of  the  Great  Father  who  sits  in  Washington. 
You  have  a  good  work,  and  although  these  Santees  were  very  bad, 
you  have  washed  them  and  made  them  appear  good,  and  now  have 
at  least  saved  half  of  them. 

You  have  God's  work,  and  He  gives  you  His  strength,  and  so 
we  look  upon  you  as  sacred,  and  through  your  work  you  seem  to 
us  like  a  Son  of  God.  Come  and  help  us — go  from  nation  to 
nation. 

AVhen  one  has  been  blessed,  come  on  to  yet  another,  and  before 
you  die  you  will  lead  our  people  to  a  great  salvation.  Our  people 
want  you.  Part  of  them  are  very  bad.  But  many  long  for  peace 
and  wisdom.  We  are  foolish,  we  are  deceived  like  children.  They 
tell  us  our  agents  and  traders  are  foolish  men,  and  that  therefore 
we  are  deceived.  oSTo  !  It  is  because  we  are  foolish  and  have  no 
teachers,  that  we  are  driven  about  from  place  to  place,  to  find  a 
place  to  be  buried  in.  We  know  you  can  help  us,  and  I  am  sent 
by  four  Chiefs,  four  Head  Soldiers,  and  eight  sons  of  Chiefs,  to 
pray  you  and  the  brethren  of  your  Holy  Fellowship  to  build  up  a 
Mission  among  our  people. 

Our  folly  and  ignorance  and  wickedness  are  sending  us  fast  to 
the  grave,  but  you  can  save  our  children,  and  even  make  some  of 
us  better  and  happier  now.  "  "  I  am  going  home  with  the  good 
words  you  have  given  me,  and  if  necessary,  will  bring  all  our 
Chief-men  down  to  beseech  you,  and  to  hear  your  words.  We 
come  to  you  because  we  know  you,  and  we  believe  what  we  have 
heard,  that  yours  is  a  Missionary  Church."  (Earnest  and  good 
words.) 


33 

Kind  words  again  by  mail,  and  an  offering  from  a  friend  in  New 
port,  R.  I. 

January  22d,  1869. 

Much,  interest  in  school;  we  reviewed  all  the  studies  of  the  week, 
and  I  was  well  satisfied  with  the  good  progress  made. 

I  have  three  Yankton  Warriors  as  pupils;  they  have  come  down 
to  learn  to  read  and  write  their  own  language.  One  of  them  is 
above  forty  years  old,  and  yet  they  learn  very  rapidly,  and  seem  to 
think  nothing  of  going  back  and  forth,  to  and  from  their  own 
Agency  forty  miles,  every  week. 

I  am  very  much  interested  in  them  and  their  people,  and  long 
for  the  time  when  we  can  establish  a  School  and  Mission  in  the 
midst  of  their  villages. 

I  went  to  see  my  sick  boy.  Philip  also  went,  and  we  were  both 
astonished  to  find  him  almost  well.  Yesterday  we  were  both 
alarmed  about  him.  But  to-day  he  said  ' '  My  grandmother  wanted 
to  bring  the  conjurors  but  I  would  not  consent,  and  now  God  has 
made  me  well.  ' ' 

This  evening  I  have  had  a  long  conversation  with  the  Agent  and 
Trader.  Both  are  very  kind  men,  and  really  try  to  do  all  they  can 
for  the  Indians.  We  are  all  very  anxious  for  a  new  treaty,  to  give 
us  no  doubt  as  to  our  permanent  home,  and  to  better  provide  for 
the  advance  of  the  Santees  in  Christian  civilization.  Our  present 
arrangement  is  a  bad  one,  and  these  Indians,  now  well  advanced 
in  civilization,  are  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  the  wild  Sioux  of 
the  plains.  The  Government  attempted  to  feed  them,  and  not  pro 
vide  for  their  instruction  in  work,  or  otherwise,  and  the  system 
has  a  very  bad  effect.  It  encourages  idleness  and  rewards  it.  The 
wonder  is  that  our  Indians  have  made  any  advance. 

But  I  really  think  now  that  very  many  of  them  are  really  and 
sincerely  in  earnest,  and  so  they  improve  under  disadvantages  and 
neglects. 

I  do  hope  there  will  be  no  mistakes  or  imperfections  in  our  new 


34 

treaty.  There  certainly  are  no  Indians  on  this  river  who  are  so 
far  advanced  as  these,  and  none  who  so  well  merit  some  encourage 
ment  in  the  improvement  they  are  trying  to  make. 

On  my  way  home  last  night,  I  passed  for  a  mile  through  the  In 
dian  village,  and  though  it  was  a  most  beautiful  evening,  every 
where  it  was  as  quiet  as  in  any  well  regulated  community. 

Among  wild  Indians  night  is  made  hideous  by  their  hooting, 
and  the  conjuror's  rattle,  and  the  drum,  and  voices  of  the  dancers. 
Three  years  ago  even,  we  had  much  of  heathenism  here,  but  now 
all  seems  changed,  and  very  many  who  were  the  most  determined 
heathen  are  now  become  earnest  and  trustworthy  Christians. 

Saturday,  January  28(7,  18G9. 

A  visit  from  the  Yankton  Chiefs.  One  was  here  two  days  ago, 
and  to-day  he  returned  bringing  his  comrades. 

They  were  very  eloquent,  and  very  earnest  in  all  they  said.  They 
are  like  men  praying  for  life.  Their  corn  crop  of  List  Summer 
was  a  failure,  and  a  large  part  of  the  year's  annuities  had  been 
expended  for  them  in  advance  during  the  year  '07.  This  winter 
the  prairies  are  all  burned,  and  there  are  no  buffalo  north  of  the 
Platte.  So  they  are  left  without  money,  or  food,  or  game. 

Their  Agent  has  thus  far  plead  in  vain  for  relief  for  them,  and 
now  has  gone  to  Washington  to  resign,  because  he  can  no  longer 
do  anything  for  the  Indians,  and  they  were  almost  threatening  his 
life.  I  asked  the  Chief,  Pte-wakan-ina-jin  (Sacred  Cow),  on  what 
his  people  were  living  •  he  replied,  "on  bark  and  roots."  They 
are  greatly  troubled  and  believe  they  can  get  no  relief,  until  they 
have  a  Missionary,  and  so  attract  the  interest  of  good  people  in 
their  welfare.  They  said  again  and  again,  "We  are  dying — we 
pray  for  our  children's  sake,  and  yet  it  is  possible  that  you  may 
save  some  of  us  before  we  go.  "  Speaking  of  a  man  who  had  rob 
bed  them  they  said,  "never  mind,  he  is  dead — we  do  not  think 
that  he  can  make  God  blind  with  the  money  he  took  from  us." 
Another  said,  complaining  about  how  little  their  real  wants  were 


35 

known  and  understood,  "  The  Great  Father  sends  us  men  with 
wooden  ears  and  wooden  hearts.  " 

Speaking  of  an  interview  with  the  Commandant  of  a  Fort,  one 
said,  "  I  told  him  we  heard  he  was  sent  there  to  prevent  thieving 
and  drunkenness,  and  lying,  arid  murder,  and  we  regarded  him  as 
a  brave  man,  and  a  soldier,  and  we  were  afraid  of  him."  "But 
now  they  know  that  he  did  not  try  to  prevent  these  things,  and 
they  no  longer  feared  him,  because  they  could  not  regard  a  man  as 
brave,  who  hesitated  to  do  his  duty,  because  it  was  difficult  and 
hazardous. ' ' 

And  so  all  Indians  now  feel  that  they  are  left  without  protection, 
and  without  law,  and  that  no  one  can  aid  them,  or  save  them  un 
less  he  can  make  good  people  feel  how  miserable  they  are,  and  how 
thankful  they  can  be  for  any  disinterested  kindness. 

I  do  hope  that  before  the  Summer  is  gone,  we  can  begin  our 
work  among  these  people,  who  are  so  desirous  to  have  a  Shepherd. 
They  must  be  in  earnest,  for  I  have  given  them  nothing,  and  give 
them  nothing  when  they  come,  except  to  relieve  their  absolute 
wants,  and  yet  every  week  some  of  them  walk  the  forty  miles, 
merely  to  hear  our  words,  and  ask  our  advice  as  to  what  they 
ought  to  do,  to  make  their  future  brighter  for  them. 

Septuagesima  Sunday,  Jan.  Z4t7i,  1869. 

Large  congregation.  I  preached  from  the  second  Lesson,  St. 
Matt,  vii.,  18th  and  14th.  Many  were  present  who  have  been  ab 
sent  at  work  for  some  weeks,  and  it  was  very  pleasant  to  have 
them  come  into  the  vestry  after  Service  to  shake  hands,  and  tell  us 
how  glad  they  were  to  worship  once  more  in  their  own  House  of 
God.  I  received  too,  the  following  letter,  which  was  brought  to 
me  after  Service.  I  translate  it  to  show  that  Indians  can  be  stead 
fast,  although  not  under  the  eye  of  their  Pastor.  True  religion 
every  where  is  the  love  of  God,  which  no  man  taketh  from  us. 


36 

Sioux  POINT,  DAKOTA  TEH. 

January  17th,  1869. 
REV.   S.   D.   HIXMAN  : 

Father,  to-day  I  will  write  you  a  letter.  My  friend,  it  is  Sunday, 
and  therefore  I  remember  you.  I  wish  you  to  hear  how  I  am  liv 
ing  here  so  far  away  from  the  Mission.  I  have  not  seen  you  for 
two  years,  but  I  always  remember  you.  My  friend,  I  am  yet  al 
ways  holding  fast  to  the  Great  Spirit,  and  I  want  you  to  hear  it, 
and  to  help  me  with  your  prayers.  For  many  winters  now  you 
have  given  to  me  the  words  of  God,  and  I  will  never  throw  them 
away.  If  I  can  only  make  them  mine  I  will  be  happy.  My  friend, 
together  with  my  wife,  from  a  glad  heart  I  shake  hands  with  you. 
My  friend,  when  you  see  this  letter,  I  wish  you  to  give  me  one.  I 
am  John  B.  Wapaha  (Hat). 

The  writer  is  a  young  man,  one  of  our  first  converts,  and  the 
first  one  of  our  congregation  married  in  Church.  He  is  active,  in 
telligent  and  earnest,  and  even  while  living  in  an  Indian  camp,  has 
always  been  an  example  for  the  young  men  of  the  tribe.  And  now 
they  always  speak  of  him  as  one  whose  love  and  obedience  to  his 
Saviour  no  one  can  doubt. 

At  2  P.  M.  Catechetical  School,  and  Litany.  Full  and  interest 
ing.  At  Evening  Prayer,  another  overflowing  and  attentive  con 
gregation.  The  singing  was  most  praiseworthy,  filling  the  whole 
building  with  waves  of  sound.  Paul  preached  from  ii.  Cor.  iv.  18. 
' '  While  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen, "  &c.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  it  was  a  good  sermon.  When  you  judge  a  sermon 
not  by  its  merits  as  a  composition,  but  by  the  truth  which  it  de 
clares,  and  the  believing  earnestness  of  him  who  preaches  it,  it 
makes  a  different,  and  a  better  standard. 

It  is  high  time  that  the  Sermon  Paper,  and  by  the  page  system 
of  preaching  was  given  up  for  more  apostolic  methods. 

This  evening  also  I  received  a  letter  from  a  young  Yankton, 
whom  we  taught  to  read  three  years  ago,  but  who  is  now  living 


37 

among  his  people  some  sixty  miles  up  the  river,  saying,  "  That  he 
always  remembered  Paul  and  me,  and  our  words,  and  asking  us  if 
we  really  believed  that  there  was  any  hope  for  his  people.  "  He 
says,  "  We  are  going  fast  to  destruction,  getting  worse  and  worse 
every  day,  and  it  does  not  seem  right  that  the  Church  of  God,  and 
the  Apostles  of  His  Word,  should  tell  us  we  must  wait,  and  wait, 
and  wait,  and  this  too,  when  men  are  dying  here  every  day,  who 
are  bad,  because  no  man  has  taught  them  what  goodness  is,  and 
because  they  have  never  heard  the  Saviour's  name." 

January  25t7i,  1869. 
Festival  of  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul. 

All  busy  with  school,  and  this  afternoon  I  had  a  long  talk  with 
some  of  our  principal  men.  They  are  very  anxious  for  the  future, 
and  are  much  afraid  that  their  new  treaty  will  further  the  ends  of 
bad  men,  and  encourage  idleness  among  the  Indians. 

There  is  such  a  general  misunderstanding  of  Indian  character, 
and  ignorance  of  their  real  wants,  that  it  is  well  nigh  impossible 
to  get  any  very  satisfactory  arrangement  for  them. 

This  afternoon,  while  some  of  my  young  men  were  practising  their 
chants  and  hymns,  several  wild  Indians  with  faces  painted,  and 
all  of  them  bearing  arms  like  warriors,  came  and  looked  in  at  the 
windows.  I  tried  to  beckon  them  in,  but  they  appeared  astonish 
ed  at  the  building,  and  slipped  away  down  the  steep  ravine  into 
the  forest.  I  suppose  them  to  be  Poncas,  but  they  looked  so  very 
wild  and  strange,  that  their  appearance  created  quite  an  excite 
ment  among  us  all. 

This  evening  we  have  just  come  from  our  Prayers  in  the  Chapel. 
The  congregation  was  large,  many  were  seated  on  the  floor.  I 
preached  to  them  from  the  words  of  the  Epistle,  "  Who  art  Thou, 
Lord?  Lord  what  wyilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?"  A  practical  sermon, 
urging  them  to  accept  the  light  that  God  has  sent  to  them,  to  re 
cognize  His  glory  far,  far  above  that  of  any  pretended  divinity,  to 
go  and  dwell  in  the  Street  called  Straight,  and  pray  always  to  the 


38 

Great  Spirit,  and  this  message  and  His  peace  would  not  be  with 
held.  In  the  Indian  language,  this  is  a  beautiful  parable,  because 
Owatona,  the  word  for  straight,  means  also  proper,  correct,  right, 
and  righteous.  It  is  delightful  in  these  week-day  Services  to  see  so 
many  attendants,  always  a  Church  full  of  Indians,  and  all  rever 
ent,  devout,  and  earnest. 

The  mail  brings  letters  all  kind  and  pleasant,  but  how  little  the 
writers  can  know  of  the  real  work,  and  its  daily  crosses.  But  God 
is  good — good  beyond  all  our  deserts — good  even  when  we  fear 
and  bow  before  the  storm,  and  if  our  work  is  His,  it  abides  fast 
forever,  and  what  are  men  that  they  should  work  for  Him,  and  be 
called  to  be  partakers  in  His  love.  "  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and 
bless  us  and  show  us  the  light  of  His  countenance,  and  be  merciful 
unto  us. "  Amen. 

January  26th,  1869. 

A  day  of  great  excitement,  and  I  returned  home  at  sunset,  after 
a  walk  of  twenty  miles.  When  at  all  disturbed,  I  find  always  that 
bodily  fatigue  is  the  best  remedy  for  mental  anxiety.  Longing  for 
rest,  when  you  know  that  rest  is  possible,  is  a  comfortable  feeling. 

Wandering  over  the  bleak  and  lonely  hills,  and  scaling  bluff  after 
bluff  of  the  streams  that  break  through  these  high  lands  into  the 
Missouri,  the  moon  hiding  in  the  clouds,  and  the  stars  peering 
through  them,  the  gray  cold  sunrise  and  the  frozen  clouds  of  dust, 
moving  like  ghostly  shadows  in  the  dim  light  of  dawn,  and  then 
the  baldness  of  all  things  in  the  light  of  a  cloudy  winter  day,  and 
all  this  away  from  the  habitation  of  men  ;  it  is  a  picture  that 
relieves  a  troubled  mind.  I  suppose  because  it  is  so  like  its  own  re 
flection. 

It  is  however  but  a  dead,  cold  scene,  without  a  God  behind  the 
clouds,  or  a  life-working  power  somewhere.  And  a  troubled  spirit, 
without  superhuman  consolation,  is  a  fair  likeness  in  feeling  and 
all  to  the  state  of  the  heathen  man,  and  the  infidel. 


39 

Our  Dakota  Hymn,  "  Nearer  to  Thee  "  has  been  in  my  mind, 
and  on  my  lips  many  times. 

"  Thus  like  a  wanderer, 

So  full  of  fear, 
Astray  in  the  darkness, 

I  lay  me  down  ; 
But  in  my  pleasant  dreams, 

With  Thee  I  seem  to  be. 
Keep  Thou  me,  O  my  God, 

Nearer  to  Thee." 

In  the  Dakota  the  hymn  is  perfect  in  its  picture  of  weariness 
and  lonesomeness,  leading  one  to  God. 

In  the  evening  a  man  and  his  wife,  who  had  been  absent  all  the 
winter,  came  for  confession  and  advice. 

Among  the  Indians,  this  seems  to  be  necessary,  as  it  accords 
with  their  own  custom  in  their  heathen  rites  and  fellowship,  and 
when  fearing  the  reproach  that  Churchmen  might  bring  upon  this 
custom  as  anti-Protestant,  we  would  have  broken  it  up,  the  In 
dians  have  protested,  and  said  that  if  men  were  sincere,  they 
must  not  hide  their  sins ;  and  if  a  patient  wished  relief,  he 
must  show  his  sores,  no  matter  how  seemingly  offensive,  as  so  only 
could  the  physician  judge. 

I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  the  history  of  this  matter  in 
our  Mission,  and  our  practice  here  under  a  future  date. 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  is  not  compulsory,  nor  made  a  sacrament, 
nor  followed  by  priestly  absolution. 

January  27t7i,  1869. 
Almost  a  Summer  day. 

Cutting  ice  from  the  Missouri.  The  water  is  yet  of  the  same 
muddy  color,  but  the  ice  is  as  clear  as  glass.  AVe  find  ice  the  best 
of  remedies  in  sickness,  and  in  the  dry  heat  of  the  summer  here, 
it  is  almost  the  only  luxury  we  enjoy. 


40 

Heard  Philip  and  Christian  recite  their  Bible  lesson,  and  gave 
them  instruction  on  its  different  parts. 

Walker  is  worse  and  cannot  live  long  now  ;  he  seems  ready  to  go, 
and  is  always  reading  his  Bible  and  Prayer  Book,  and  looks  for 
ward  with  pleasure  to  the  evening  Service  held  daily  at  his  home. 
But  he  is  troubled  always  by  the  visions  of  a  misspent  life.  It  is 
indeed  a  fearful  thing  to  put  off  preparation  for  the  last  journey, 
until  the  Messenger  is  already  come. 

Would  that  we  might  all  live  day  by  day  as  not  of  the  world, 
but  in  the  glorious  fellowship  of.  Christ,  and  under  the  guardian 
ship  of  His  holy  angels,  and  by  the  glorious  examples  of  His  re 
deemed  ones. 

To-night  the  bright  full  moon  bathes  all  the  hills  in  its  soft  pure 
light,  and  the  quiet  beauty  of  the  scene  is  only  disturbed  by  the  fear 
ful  cries  of  some  drunken  white  men,  who  are  wandering  up  and 
down  in  search  of  evil,  and  making  valley  after  valley  echo  with 
their  horrible  oaths. 

I  thank  God  that  the  Indians  have  never  known  how  to  blas 
pheme.  If  there  is  any  truth  in  our  revelation  of  God's  goodness, 
it  must  be  a  horrible  thing  to  be  so  unmindful  of  it,  and  an  awful 
sin  to  couple  His  most  holy  name  with  the  vilest  words  that  Devil 
ish  ingenuity  can  invent. 

The  Indian  language  has  not  an  oath,  nor  can  one  be  readily 
framed  from  it. 

January  28th,  18G9. 

Been  busy  all  day  with  the  school  and  my  lessons  for  our  Indian 
Catechists.  I  have  succeeded  in  finding  two  young  men,  and  two 
young  women,  who  we  think  can  be  trained  so  as  to  be  very  useful 
as  teachers  for  the  younger  pupils.  It  is  indeed  a  great  relief  to 
be  thus  able  to  get  assistance  from  the  result  of  our  own  work. 
And  it  is  yet  another  step  toward  making  the  Indian  Mission  self- 
supporting.  When  the  Indians  can  have  their  own  teachers,  and 


41 

their  own  clergy,  they  will  soon  be  able  to  support  them  them 
selves.  And  thus  more  and  more  they  will  take  pride  in  having 
their  children  become  proficient  in  the  English  language. 

We  have  just  heard  the  sad  news  of  the  death  of  my  old  teacher 
in  Divinity,  and  one  of  the  founders  and  best  friends  of  this  Mis 
sion,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Manney,  of  Faribault. 

How  well  I  recall  his  kind  face,  and  always  pleasant  words. 

He  was  a  man  of  good  and  large  heart,  and  of  wonderful  skill  in 
logic,  and  of  the  best  ability  as  a  theologian. 

His  sermons  were  always  wonderfully  full  of  learning  and  in 
struction,  and  his  teachings  most  thorough  and  catholic.  His 
report  on  the  Provincial  system,  at  the  last  General  Convention, 
was  among  the  best  written  papers  presented  to  that  body. 

He  will  always  be  remembered  by  us  all  as  a  kind,  generous 
scholarly  Christian  man.  A  man  whom  to  know  was  to  love  and 
to  honor.  We  miss  him  sadly,  and  it  will  be  many  days  before 
our  mourning  will  be  fulfilled.  He  has  fallen  asleep. 

January  29^,  1869. 

Review  of  school,  and  I  find  the  children  making  very  commend 
able  progress. 

For  next  week  I  have  two  new  teachers,  so  that  all  will  go  much 
better.  Xow  our  only  suffering  will  be  for  want  of  room,  and  that 
we  must  put  up  with  until  some  kind  friend  comes  to  our  relief. 

Mary  reports  the  Mothers'  Meeting  very  interesting,  some  coming 
long  distances  to  be  present ;  and  very  thankful  at  seeing  her  once 
more  with  them  in  their  worship. 

We  try  to  feel  on  Thursday  that  many  earnest  friends  are  pray 
ing  with  us,  for  the  blessing  of  God  upon  all  Indian  work. 
It  cannot  be  possible  that  there  is  no  room  for  these  Missions  in 
the  hearts  of  Christian  people. 

This  evening,  too,  we  had  a  full  attendance  of  young  men  at 
their  Service.  Some  of  the  older  ones  spoke,  and  gave  much  good 

3* 


42 

advice  as  to  how  they  ought  to  live  and  what  they  ought  to  do 
first,  to  make  their  religion  and  civilization  ]asting. 

All  seemed  thankful  for  the  change  which  Christianity  has 
wrought,  but  the  young  men  seem  much  more  earnest.  I  think  it 
is  because  they  understand  better. 

It  is  very  hard  to  break  up  old  habits  of  thought.  It  is  hard  to 
make  religion  real,  where  before  there  has  been  no  sense  of  re 
sponsibility,  and  no  fear  of  God.  And  then  here  the  evil  lives  of 
so  many  act  as  a  continual  opposition  to  all  good,  so  that  we  must 
maintain  our  position  and  our  strength  by  a  continued  and  vigi 
lant  warfare.  Elsewhere  public  opinion  and  example  go  far  to 
keep  the  young  away  from  evil,  and  to  make  them  afraid  of  the 
shame  and  disgrace  that  wrong  doing  brings. 

But  here  we  have  no  such  help.  Our  only  strength  is  the  truth 
which  we  teach,  and  the  support  that  He  whose  word  it  is,  sends 
with  it. 

January  3Qth,  1869. 

A  young  man  just  returned  from  trapping,  came  for  confession. 
They  all  seem  so  glad  to  get  back  to  their  own  Church,  and  glad 
to  come  and  tell  us  how  they  worshipped  and  prayed,  while  absent 
from  their  teachers. 

Their  custom  of  confession  is,  I  suppose,  first  derived  from  their 
Medicine,  or  Sacred  Dance,  and  from  their  Soldier's  Lodge.  The 
custom  was  first  introduced  among  the  Christian  Indians  by  the 
Missionaries  of  the  American  Board. 

With  them  it  is  public,  each  communicant  being  obliged  to  con 
fess  before  a  large  congregation.  This  practice  was  thought  to  te 
open  to  grave  objections,  both  on  account  of  its  effect  upon  peni 
tents  who  would  shrink  from  such  publicity,  and  also  on  account 
of  the  bad  influence  upon  the  congregation,  many  of  whom  would 
come  purposely  to  hear  scandal,  and  then  repeat  it  at  home. 

The  Indians,  however,  insisted  that  confession  of  some  kind  was 
necessary  to  show  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  so  I  have  told  them  to  come 


43 

to  me,  or  to  Paul,  or  to  their  Catechists,  and  we  would  hear  them 
privately,  and  advise  them,  and  pray  for  them. 

This  then  we  do,  not  making  it  obligatory,  and  not  giving  abso 
lution.  The  result  is  that  they  come  to  us  frequently  for  spiritual 
advice,  and  I  think  the  effect  both  upon  them  and  upon  ourselves 
is  very  good. 

It  opens  more  clearly  the  teachings  of  Christianity  to  them,  and 
it  gives  us  a  thorough  understanding  of  Indian  character,  and 
their  besetting  sins. 

This  evening  I  have  attended  a  catechetical  Service  at  Owanca's 
Band.  The  new  Catechist  conducted  the  Service,  and  gave  a  very 
good  lecture  011  Christian  patience. 

Coming  home,  I  called  at  Huntka's,  to  see  a  sick  child. 

The  little  one  seemed  very  sick,  and  threatened  with  brain 
fever.  She  seemed  very  glad  to  see  me,  and  when  I  sent  home  for 
medicine,  took  it  without  a  murmur. 

And  so  each  day  we  find  some  good  work  to  do— we  find  every 
where  room  for  blessings. 

How  much  then  must  there  be,  that  we  know  not  of,  or  that  in 
our  short-sightedness,  or  weakness,  we  pass  by,  and  so  leave  suf 
fering  unrelieved. 

Surely,  Christians  ought  to  be  busy  workers  if  they  really  and 
earnestly  believe  in  the  promise  of  their  most  merciful  Saviour. 

January  31st,  1869. 

Sexagesima  Sunday,  and  the  last  day  of  the  month. 
A  most  hearty  and  interesting  Service  at  half-past  ten,  and  a 
crowded  congregation.    More  women  than  men,  but  the  men  fill 
ing  their  half  of  the  Church  and  part  of  the  entrance. 

Many  now  come  to  Church  an  hour  before  the  time,  to  secure  a 
seat. 

I  preached  from  St.  Luke  vii.  39.-On  the  woman  that  was  a 
sinner.  All  seemed  very  attentive,  and  I  tried  to  direct  them  to 
Jesus,  the  forgiver  of  sins.  I  omitted  to  record  the  baptism  of 
Paul's  little  girl. 


44 

Mary  and  Miss  West  were  the  godmothers,  and  she  was  named 
Rebecca.  We  used  the  English  Service  at  Paul's  request,  and  both 
he  and  Margaret  seemed  very  happy. 

In  the  afternoon,  after  the  Litany,  I  catechised  the  children,  and 
was  much  pleased  with  their  ready  answers.  God's  blessing  seems 
to  rest  upon  all  our  undertakings,  and  if  we  only  work  and  are  in 
stant  in  laying  hold  of  opportunities,  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  "be 
too  hopeful  for  the  future.  But  our  times  are  in  His  hand. 

This  evening  again  a  crowded  congregation,  and  Paul  preached 
from  St.  Matt.  v.  13.  "The  salt  having  lost  its  savor."  A  most 
thorough  warning  to  his  people  to  be  steadfast,  and  telling  them 
the  inevitable  result  of  lukewarmness,  or  giving  up  the  Christian 
faith. 

One  illustration  was  very  good.  "  When  many  men  have  with 
great  difficulty  pushed  a  heavily-loaded  wagon  up  the  long  ascent 
of  a  very  high  hill,  and  now  when  they  have  neared  the  top,  and 
can  almost  look  over  to  the  descent  on  the  other  side,  if  a  few 
shall  refuse  to  help,  and  some  foolish  and  angry  and  careless  of 
self-destruction  begin  to  pull  back,  the  loaded  vehicle  will  roll 
easily  and  with  gaining  speed  roll  back, — the  many  cannot  stop  it, 
and  with  the  few  may  be  hurled  over  the  brink  of  some  dizzy  preci 
pice."  Many  can  with  great  difficulty  accomplish  a  good  work, 
which  a  very  few  may  bring  to  naught,  not  because  the  few  are 
stronger,  but  because  they  are  pulling  down  a  steep  and  fearful 
descent. 

After  Service  I  gave  baptism  to  a  Yankton  man,  who  has  been 
some  time  in  preparation  for  it,  and  one  of  those  who  has  been  at 
tending  school  to  learn  to  read. 

He  seems  very  sincere,  and  I  think  has  set  out  in  earnest  to  live 
the  Christian  life.  He  was  named  George.  We  have  also  two 
other  candidates  from  that  tribe,  now  under  instruction.  We  hope 
to  begin  in  earnest  our  Mission  among  them  the  coming  summer. 
If  God  will,  when  the  way  is  open  we  are  ready  to  send  our  Evan 
gelists  thither. 


45 

So  we  close  our  record  of  this  month.  More  quiet  than  many  in 
the  year,  but  yet  full  of  work.  Some  accomplished,  and  bringing 
us  peace,  and  great  joy,  and  some  imperfectly  done,  causing  us  sor 
row,  and  some,  how  much  we  know  not,  left  undone,  so  calling  us 
to  penitence,  and  new  consecration  to  our  Master  so  full  of  com 
passion.  But  still  we  feel  that  we  are  all  better  for  the  work  of 
these  few  days  ;  what  blessings  might  we  have,  if  we  could  only 
have  faith  to  fill  all  our  days  with  work  for  Him.  May  He  give 
us  ever  faith  and  strength,  and  deliver  us  from  evil. 

I  cannot  better  close  this  record,  than  with  Dowanna's  Mission 
ary  Carol,  omitted  from  Epiphany. 

Wakantanka  wowiyuxkin 

He  hdutanin  ce  ; 
Bethlehem  etanhan, 

"VVotanin  waxte. 

Oyaka,  Oyaka. 

TVicanrpi  waxte  kin  hee 

Jesus  etanhan  ; 
lyoyanpa  ska  kin, 

AVanunyakapi. 

Oyaka,  Oyaka. 

Jesus  Christ  Wanikiya  kin 

Wowitan  tanka, 
Yuha  Hdutanin  he 
Woniya  Wakan. 

Oyaka,  Oyaka. 

The  joy  of  God 

Is  manifest ; 
From  Bethlehem 

The  glad  tidings 
He  declares. 


46 

The  Beautiful  star 

From   Jesus, 
In  its  bright  light 

We  look  upon, 

Declares  Him. 

Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour, 

With  great  glory 
Manifested ;  Him 
The  Holy  Spirit 
Declares. 

Amen. 

In  closing  this  record  of  a  month  at  our  Mission,  it  seems  best 
that  we  should  take  notice  of  several  questions  that  are  constant 
ly  asked  concerning  our  work  among  the  Indians,  and  in  regard  to 
the  Indians  themselves. 

The  Journal  I  think  answers  them  all ;  but  it  is  best  that  the 
answers  should  once  be  plainly  written  out. 

The  following  are  the  questions  most  frequently  asked  : 

Do  you  believe  in  the  reality  of  the  conversions  to  Christianity 
which  you  report  ?  Do  you  believe  that  an  Indian  can  ever  be  sin 
cere  and  steadfast  in  his  profession  of  the  Christian  faith  ?  Is  not 
religion  among  Indians  a  mere  sham,  a  deception  on  their  part,  that 
they  may  obtain  sympathy  and  relief?  Do  you  think  the  Indian 
capable  of  civilization  ?  Are  the  men  willing  to  work  ?  And  why 
have  almost  all  efforts  of  the  Government  in  their  behalf,  hereto 
fore,  failed  ?  What  hope  have  you  for  the  future  ?  And  how  can 
you  know  that  the  Indians  will  remain  where  they  now  are,  and 
not  be  removed  still  farther  westward  ? 

These  questions  are  often  asked  by  persons  apparently  earnest 
in  their  doubts  of  our  accomplishing  any  thing  good,  and  they  al 
ways  cause  us  sorrow.  We  are,  therefore,  glad  to  take  this  oppor 
tunity  to  answer  them.  And  our  confidence  in  our  convictions  is 


47 

founded  upon  an  experience  of  nine  years  of  life,  spent  in  the 
midst  of  their  villages.  And  I  think  our  experience  coincides  with 
that  of  all  who  have  ever  lived  among  them.  The  Indians  are 
naturally  suspicious  of  strangers,  and  their  suspicions  have  grown 
into  entire  mistrust  of  any  good  motives  from  long  years  of  bad 
usage  and  sad  experiences.  But  after  having  gained  their  confi 
dence  and  love,  we  have  ever  found  them  to  be  of  a  teachable  and 
childlike  spirit.  They  have  a  wonderful  simplicity  of  character, 
and  willingly  give  up  their  old  customs  and  gladly  receive  instruc 
tion. 

They  are  not  less  capable  of  civilization  than  any  wild  race.  But, 
like  all  heathen  people,  the  men  are  by  long  habit,  lazy  and  idle. 
Yet  by  right  means  and  proper  oversight  they  are  readily  led  to 
work  for  a  livelihood.  And  when  once  they  understand  our  ways, 
they  always  prefer  the  sure  reward  of  daily  labor,  to  the  uncer 
tainties  of  the  chase.  The  plans  and  good  intentions  of  the  Gov 
ernment  have  failed,  simply  because  in  all  old  treaties  with  the  In 
dians,  they  have  made  no  provision  that  all  goods  and  monies 
promised  should  be  paid  out  only  in  reward  for  actual  work.  For 
under  the  old  system  all  received  aid  alike,  and  thus  those  unwil 
ling  to  labor  are  evidently  encouraged  and  supported  in  their 
heathenism  and  idleness.  The  Santees  have  not  only  improved, 
and  given  up  the  hunt  and  all  Indian  dress  and  customs,  but  they 
have  done  all  this  under  great  discouragement,  and  while  as  yet 
they  had  no  title  to  their  lands.  Now,  after  years  of  waiting,  a 
brighter  day  seems  to  be  dawning.  A  treaty  has  just  been  ratified, 
which  gives  the  Indian,  like  the  white  man,  a  right  to  a  homestead 
for  himself  and  family,  and  makes  the  title  inalienable.  This  title 
is  easily  perfected,  and  then  the  man  becomes  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States. 

The  Santees  are  now  ready  to  occupy  their  lands,  and  if  nothing 
hinders,  before  the  summer  is  over  all  our  men  will  be  living  upon 
their  own  farms.  And  then  with  the  assistance  which  Congress 


48 

has  promised  them,  and  with  the  aid  which  Christian  people  should 
render  them,  they  will  become  in  a  short  time  independent  of  any 
Government  aid.  It  is  a  glorious  thing  for  the  Indian ;  and  at  last 
we  seem  to  have  taken  a  long  step  in  the  direction  of  right  legisla 
tion  for  them. 

As  to  the  future  extent  of  our  Mission  work  and  its  permanency, 
we  cannot  certainly  tell ;  but  we  have  every  reason  to  hope  for  great 
success.  These  Santees  are  but  a  small  tribe  of  the  Dakota  or  Sioux 
nation.  The  nation  numbers  in  all  the  bands,  upward  of  40, 000 
souls.  They  speak  one  language  in  dialects  so  similar,  that  they 
readily  understand  the  words  of  any  tribe.  12,000  of  these  Indians 
are  now  in  our  immediate  vicinity.  The  buffalo  and  all  large  game 
are  fast  being  exterminated.  They  can  no  longer  trust  to  the  life 
of  hunters.  Thus  from  necessity  they  are  led  to  war,  or  to  seek 
other  means  of  support.  Many  even  now  are  anxious  to  be  taught 
better  things,  and  we  know  of  no  field  for  missionary  or  charitable 
work  more  promising  than  this.  Besides  our  Mission,  there  is  only 
one  other  in  all  this  vast  field  covering  hundreds  of  miles.  That 
is  a  Mission  of  the  American  Board,  and  their  labors  have  also  been 
greatly  blessed. 

Let  us  then  do  our  duty  here,  for  surely  we  owe  this  perishing 
race  much  for  our  past  entire,  and  most  unpardonable  neglect. 

S.  D.  H. 
Philada.,  Passion  Week,  1869. 


The  following  address  was  delivered  by  Bishop  Whipple,  on  Sun 
day,  March  7,  1869,  at  the  funeral  of  Taopi,  a  Christian  Chief  of  the 
Farmer  Band  of  Santee  Sioux.  Taopi  was  one  of  the  first  converts 
to  Christianity,  after  the  establishment  of  our  Mission  at  Redwood 
on  the  Minnesota  river.  During  all  the  fierce  trials  and  strong 
temptations  of  the  Indian  outbreak  and  massacre  of  1862,  he  re 
mained  faithful  to  his  religion  and  to  his  white  brethren.  The 
Indians  had  been  greatly  and  evidently  wronged  ;  but  in  his  desire 


49 

to  do  right,  he  conquered  the  spirit  of  vengeance  so  natural  to  his 
people,  and  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  rescuing  over  200  whites, 
mostly  women  and  children,  from  captivity  and  death.  For  this 
noble  service  he  was  never  suitably  rewarded,  and  to  the  day  of  his 
death  he  was  a  wanderer  without  country  or  home,  except  such  as 
the  kindness  of  the  good  Bishop  afforded  him.  He  died  in  peace, 
thanking  the  friends  who  had  cared  for  him,  and  commending  his 
wife  and  two  children  to  the  charity  of  the  Bishop  who  had  be 
friended  him,  and  to  the  Church  that  he  had  loved. 

The  simple,  loving  words  of  these  pages  have  been  printed  at 
the  desire  of  many  whose  hearts  have  been  touched  by  hearing  them 
uttered.  And  now  the  reading  of  them  ought  to  make  us  sad. 

That  one  so  worthy  of  honor,  and  happiness,  and  peace,  should 
hav3  been  so  left  to  sorrow  and  loneliness  of  spirit,  is  a  burning 
shame  that  we  ought  not  easily  to  forget. 

If  these  heartfelt  words  make  us  the  better  feel,  how  great  a 
duty  wre  owe  to  Taopi's  long  suffering  race,  they  will  not  have  been 
written  in  vain. 

S.  D.  H. 

Philada.,  Passion  Week,  18G9. 

BISHOP  WHIPPLE'S  ADDRESS. 

BELOVED  FRIENDS  : 

It  does  credit  to  the  sympathy  of  Christian  hearts,  and  to  the 
brotherhood  of  the  Church,  that  so  many  of  you  have  come  to  pay 
your  tribute  of  respect  to  this  Christian  Chief  Taopi.  He  once  be 
longed  to  a  despised  and  hated  race.  But  when  he  became  a 
Christian,  he  found  that  in  Christ  there  was  neither  Jew  nor  Greek ; 
neither  bond  nor  free.  There  are  no  lower  orders,  110  castes,  no 
differences  of  clime  or  kinship  among  those  who  wear  the  cross  and 
will  reign  with  Christ  forever.  If  I  speak  to  you  to-day  of  this 
man's  history,  it  is  not  to  awaken  memories  which  will  touch  the 

quick  of  over-sensitive  hearts.     I  simply  wish  to  bring  my  tribute 
5 


50 

of  respect,  and  lay  it  on  the  grave  of  an  Indian  Chief  whom  I 
have  learned  to  love.  Whatever  he  was  to  others,  he  was  my  bro 
ther.  He  was  born  on  an  island  near  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota. 
His  father,  following  the  customs  of  Indian  life  which  found  vent 
for  their  sorrows  and  joys  in  the  names  they  gave  to  their  children, 
called  him  "  Nagi  x  Kau,"  "  Shaking  Soul."  He  grew  up  an  In 
dian  hunter  and  warrior.  He  was  the  foremost  in  the  chase,  and  a 
brave  who  was  honored  with  his  people.  It  happened  that  in  the 
border  warfare  between  the  Chippewa  and  the  Sioux,  he  was  am 
bushed  and  dangerously  wounded  while  sitting  in  his  tepe.  The 
deliverance  from  death  was  so  marked,  that  his  superstitious  people 
looked  with  a  kind  of  awe  on  him,  as  if  the  Great  Spirit  had  spared 
him  for  some  great  end.  The  after  history  of  this  brave  Christian 
more  than  fulfilled  the  red  man's  prophecy.  From  this  time  he  bore 
the  name  of  Taopi  or  "  the  wounded  one,"  and  the  second  prophecy 
was  fulfilled  in  many  a  wound  of  hidden  anguish  which  he  carried 
to  his  grave. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  speak,  the  Dakotas  were  the  lords  of  the 
land.  The  Indian,  with  a  patriarchal  pride,  counted  the  game  of  hills 
and  valleys  as  his  own.  This  country  was  an  Indian's  paradise.  The 
fish  of  countless  lakes  and  streams,  the  game  of  forest  and  prairie, 
the  wild  rice,  God's  harvest  for  the  red  man,  made  it  a  land  of 
plenty,  and  drove  the  gaunt  wolf  of  hunger  from  their  tents— Where 
now  the  busy  hum  of  industry,  the  whistling  car  and  the  clanking 
of  machinery,  these  children  of  the  prairie  counted  all  their  own. 
They  were  a  more  thoughtful  people  than  other  red  men.  They  had 
heard  of  the  fate  of  other  Indian  tribes,  and  heard  the  tramp  of  the 
white  man's  coming.  They  had  always  been  the  white  man's 
friend.  There  are  men  now  living  with  us  to-day  who  could  tell 
you  that  no  white  man  ever  went  hungry  from  the  Indian's  tent. 
The  early  trader  was  his  friend.  They  feared  the  coming  dawn, 
and  with  the  faith  of  children,  sold  us  all,  and  received  a  Christian's 
oath  and  pledge  that  he  would  give  them  the  civilization  which  had 


51 

changed  our  own  heathen  fathers  into  Christian  men.  I  shall  not 
tell  you  how  the  oath  was  kept.  It  is  one  of  the  world's  secrets 
written  plain  in  the  book  of  God.  I  can  leave  it  to  Him.  I  only 
say  that  it  has  always  happened  for  six  thousand  years,  that  the  op 
pressor  despises  the  poor,  that  Ahab  is  never  loving  to  Xaboth, 
whom  he  has  spoiled  of  his  vineyard.  It  seems  to  help  poor  hu 
manity  to  speak  hard  wrords  of  all  whom  we  have  wronged.  In 
18GO  I  went  to  see  if  we  could  plant  a  Mission  with  this  people,  at 
the  Lower  Agency.  The  Presbyterians  had  a  Mission  some  40  miles 
above,  but  there  were  2500  of  this  people  living  with  the  Lower 
Sioux  who  were  going  down  to  death  without  the  Gospel.  I  met 
at  that  visit  two  men,  Taopi  and  Good  Thunder.  I  can  see  now 
their  upturned  faces,  as  they  listened  to  my  story  of  the  love  of 
Jesus.  It  touched  my  heart  ;  how  could  I  refuse  to  give  the  Gos 
pel  to  heathen  men  who  asked  for  it?  Our  brother  Hinman  be 
came  their  missionary  ;  with  singular  wisdom  he  began  his  work 
with  little  children.  Among  the  little  ones  whom  he  made  "lambs 
of  Jesus  "  were  two  of  Taopi' s  children.  They  were  "early  call 
ed.  "  The  Indians  have  a  deep  love  for  their  children,  and  this 
sorrow  led  Taopi  unto  Jesus.  I  do  not  think  he  ever  forgot  the 
lesson.  Through  all  these  years,  when  speaking  of  his  household, 
he  always  counted  those  in  Paradise.  During  this  long  sickness, 
the  hope  which  seemed  to  beckon  him  on  was  the  meeting.  He  said, 
"The  Great  Spirit  has  called  me  to  go  and  meet  Him.  I  am  not 
afraid.  He  has  my  children,  and  I  shall  find  them  there.  " 

In  1862  the  long  accumulated  irritations  and  wrongs  and  hatreds 
of  savage  hearts  broke  out  in  a  massacre  such  as  our  country  had 
never  seen.  It  made  the  border  an  Aceldama.  Some  of  you  remem 
ber  those  awful  days  whose  memory  almost  curdles  one's  blood. 
Perhaps  you  recall  the  days  of  anxious  foreboding,  when  we  so 
longed  for  tidings  of  the  hundreds  of  captive  women.  Lying 
rumors  said  that  Christian  Indians  had  given  up  their  faith  and 
shared  in  deeds  of  blood.  I  did  not  believe  it,  for  I  knew  the  love 


52 

of  Jesus  was  the  same  in  every  heart,  and  I  felt  that  when  we  did 
hear,  there  would  be  another  record  of  "  deeds  of  faith.  "  I  need 
not  tell  you  of  the  letters  signed  by  "Wabasliaw  and  Taopi,  which 
were  sent  to  General  Sibley  offering  to  rescue  these  poor  captives. 
These  letters  were  written  by  Taopi,  and  knowing  the  feelings  of 
Wabashaw,  he  consented  to  have  Gocd  Thunder  add  his  name  to 
them.  They  were  carried  by  Wa-ha-canka-ma-za,  one  of  these 
mourners,  a  half  day's  journey  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  and  delivered 
to  the  messenger  for  General  Sibley.  Nor  need  I  tell  you  that  in 
fulfilment  of  the  pledge  of  these  letters,  they  did  rescue  the  white 
captives  and  delivered  them  to  us.  Taopi  had  a  certificate  from 
General  Sibley. 

Camp  Release,  Oct.  4th,  1862. 

"  The  bearer,  Taopi  or  Wounded  Man,  is  a  civilized  Sioux  Indian, 
who  deserves  the  gratitude  of  the  American  people  for  having  been 
principally  instrumental  in  saving  the  lives  of  white  women  and 
children  during  the  late  Indian  war.  I  commend  him  to  the  kind 
consideration  and  attention  of  all  citizens  of  the  United  States." 

H.  H.  Sibley, 

Col.  Commanding. 

At  the  time  the  Indians  were  removed  to  the  Missouri,  Alexander 
Faribault  and  myself  requested  that  Taopi  and  his  friends  might 
be  allowed  to  reside  in  Faribault.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  ex 
citement  in  the  public  mind,  and  threats  of  violence  were  made 
against  these  poor  Indians.  Taopi  came  to  me  one  day  and  said, 
"my  father,  read  this  paper,  it  tells  you  how  I  saved  your  people 
from  death.  If  your  white  brothers  have  the  same  law  as  savage 
Indians,  that  when  a  man  is  killed,  some  one  of  the  murderous  race 
must  die,  and  they  wish  for  this  to  take  my  life,  tell  them  not  to 
shoot  me  in  my  tepe  like  a  dog.  Ask  them  to  send  for  me,  and  I 
will  show  them  how  an  innocent  man  can  die."  It  is  due  to  say 
that  when  their  character  was  known,  they  were  treated  with  uni 
form  kindness.  For  two  years  and  more,  whenever  I  was  at  home, 


53 

I  held  a  Service  with  them,  most  often  at  St.  Mary's  Hall.  They 
will  ever  be  pleasant  memories.  Two  years  ago  most  of  these 
Christian  Indians  were  removed.  I  held  a  farewell  Service  :  we 
parted  by  the  Lord's  Table.  One  by  one  they  came  writh  tears,  and 
kissing  my  wife  said,  "Marpiya  ekta  watcheyaka  wachin.  In 
Heaven  to  meet  you  I  hope." 

Poor  Taopi  came  that  night  and  said,  "  My  father,  I  have  no  blood 
on  my  hands,  and  the  Great  Spirit  knows  there  is  none  on  my  heart. 
I  served  your  people — I  love  your  Saviour — I  had  a  home — I  have 
110  home.  Taopi  cannot  go  to  his  people.  You  hung  men  at  Man- 
kato,  whose  friends  will  require  their  blood  at  my  hands.  If  I  go 
I  shall  die.  I  never  shall  have  a  home  until  I  sleep  in  the  grave." 
When  I  knew  him  before  the  outbreak,  he  had  a  house  and  furni 
ture,  and  stock,  and  implements  of  husbandry,  and  was  a  well  to  do 
farmer.  These  later  years  have  seen  him  a  poor  homeless  wanderer. 
That  no  murmur  crossed  his  lips,  that  no  word  of  anger  was  ever 
spoken,  that  he  could  bear  up  against  the  load  of  sorrow  that 
blighted  his  life,  that  he  did  not  as  so  many  do,  when  their  hearts 
are  crushed  by  sorrow,  become  outcast,  that  he  still  loved  the  House 
of  prayer,  that  amid  all  his  troubles  he  clung  to  Christ  as  his 
Saviour,  was  due  to  the  power  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  He  visited 
me  often  to  hear  tidings  of  Christian  friends  on  the  Missouri,  or  to 
ask  me  if  the  Great  Father  was  to  give  a  home  to  the  Christian  In 
dians.  To  this  last  question  I  always  answered  with  a  stammering 
voice,  and  I  blushed  for  my  race  when  I  looked  in  this  simple- 
hearted  man's  face.  He  had  been  forced  much  against  his  will  to 
resume  his  old  habits  as  a  hunter.  But  he  always  told  me  that  in 
his  tepe  he  kept  the  Praying  day ;  about  four  months  ago  he  was 
taken  ill.  He  came  to  Faribault  to  die  ;  when  we  met,  he  said,  "the 
Great  Spirit  has  called  me,  I  wanted  to  see  your  face  once  more  and 
co  I  came  here  to  die."  To  all  words  of  encouragement  from  the 
physicians  and  friends  he  had  one  answer.  "  The  Great  Spirit  has 


54 

sent  for  me  and  I  am  going  to  my  children."     His  first  letter  to  me 
after  his  return  shows  the  child-like  man. 

"  I  was  far  beyond  St.  Paul  but  I  was  sick,  so  I  came  to  Faribault 
to  see  you,  I  can't  walk,  so  I  can't  see  you.  I  am  getting  so  I  can't 
hold  any  thing  strong,  and  now  if  you  see  my  face,  you  wont  see 
my  face  plain,  wrhile  I  am  a  little  strong  if  you  say  anything  to  me, 
I  want  to  hear  it.  If  you  say  any  word  to  me  when  I  am  dead,  I 
could  not  hear  it.  I  am  not  afraid  to  die,  but  I  tell  you  it.  Every 
man  on  earth  is  got  to  die.  You  are  a  bishop  and  you  love  every 
poor  man.  All  the  Indians  here  with  me  are  your  friends.  I  can 
not  say  any  more,  so  I  shake  hands  with  you.  Your  true  friend, 

MR.  TAOPI. 

The  visits  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  DuBois  and  myself  seemed  a  great 
comfort.  About  a  week  ago,  he  wrote  me,  "You  always  say  I 
shall  get  well,  but  I  know  in  my  heart  I  shall  die  soon.  I  want  to 
see  you  now  very  much  ;  I  will  be  glad  when  I  am  dead  if  you  will 
take  me  once  more  to  the  Church,  and  then  you  may  put  my  body 
where  you  wish.  When  I  die  I  would  like  you  to  take  care  of  my 
children  ;  if  you  do  that  I  will  be  glad,  and  I  want  some  of  my 
white  friends  to  know  Taopi  is  dead."  When  I  asked  what  he 
wanted  to  say  to  me  so  much,  he  said,  "I  want  to  receive  the  Com 
munion  with  my  people  before  I  die."  It  was  administered,  and 
was  to  us  all  a  blessed  Service.  Once  more  I  saw  him.  He  told 
me  the  time  was  little,  before  he  went  on  the  journey,  that  he  was 
not  afraid  to  go  to  the  Great  Spirit,  that  Jesus  and  angels  would 
go  with  him  and  he  should  not  be  lonesome.  He  thanked  me  for 
the  little  kindness  I  had  shown  him,  asked  me  to  write  to  Mr. 
Welsh  and  the  Christian  friends  he  saw  in  Philadelphia,  and  tell 
them  he  had  gone  to  the  Great  Spirit's  home.  He  wished  me  to 
write  to  Mr.  Hinman  and  tell  him  how  he  died  in  peace.  He  spoke 
again  of  meeting  his  children,  and  commended  his  wife  and  chil 
dren  to  us  ;  for  they  have  no  friend,  save  Him  who  has  promised 
to  te  the  widow's  God  and  the  God  of  the  fatherless.  He  joined 


audibly  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  then  bade  me  good  bye.  lie 
died  calmly  as  children  go  to  sleep,  and  he  has  entered  into  the  rest 
of  the  people  of  God. 

For  myself,  dear  friends,  this  one  death -bed  overpays  me  one 
hundred  fold  for  all  the  work  and  care  I  have  ever  had  in  Indian 
work.  To  him  under  God,  his  people  owe  much  for  the  manly  stand 
he  took  as  early  as  1861,  in  behalf  of  Christianity.  These  were  far 
mer  Indians  who  wished  to  keep  the  Grand  medicine,  and  yet  follow 
the  civilization  of  the  white  man.  Taopi  always  said,  "  It  is  the 
religion  of  the  Great  Spirit  which  makes  the  \vhite  man  different 
from  his  red  brother."  I  never  shall  forget  his  earnest  words 
spoken  to  some  Chippewa  Chiefs,  who  came  to  sec  me  two  years 
ago.  They  have  been  repeated  and  re-repeated  in  every  Indian 
village  of  that  tribe  as  the  words  of  a  wise  man.  It  was  the  love 
of  Jesus  and  the  sweet  story  of  the  Cross  which  softened  his  sav 
age  heart  and  made  him  gentle  as  a  child.  It  was  the  bravery  of 
Christian  courage  which  made  so  many  of  these  poor  Indians 
risk  so  much  to  save  our  people  from  death. 

Pardon  me  for  saying  so  much  for  my  red  brother,  1  could  not  do 
less  for  one  I  loved.  It  was  due  to  him,  and  due  to  you,  it  was  due 
to  Christ  and  to  His  Church,  that  I  should  bring  my  simple  tribute 
and  lay  it  on  the  coffin  of  Taopi,  the  Christian  Chief  of  the  Dako- 
tas. 

Taopi  has  gone  before  us  to  the  better  land.  May  we  not  hope 
that  the  day  will  come,  when  all  wTholovc  Jesus  may  meet  in  a  land 
where  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes,  and  there 
shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying  ;  neither  shall 
there  be  any  more  pain  ;  where  all  of  Christ's  ransomed  ones  shall 
join  in  that  song  to  the  Lamb,  "which  no  man  could  learn  but 
they  who  were  redeemed  from  among  men  ;"  and  will  there  not  be 
in  that  company,  some  of  these  poor  Dakotas,  not  then  to  be  de 
spised  of  whom  it  will  be  true,  "  he  that  overcometh  shall  inherit 
all  things,  and  I  will  be  his  God,  and  he  shall  be  my  son." 


5G 

PhiladelpJiia,  April  12,  1869. 
WM.  WELSH,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir : — Instead  of  replying  specifically  to  your  queries  as  to 
the  willingness  of  the  Sioux  Indians  to  cultivate  the  soil  and  to 
become  civilized  and  Christianized  citizens — I  prefer  to  give  you  a 
chapter  from  my  own  experience,  and  allow  you  to  draw  your  own 
inferences. 

In  1857,  when  I  first  went  in  among  them  in  Minnesota,  I  found 
fc  few  Indians  farming  in  a  common  field,  cultivated  entirely  by 
the  squaws.  They  complained  to  me  that  as  fast  as  their  corn 
grew  the  bad  young  men  would  take  it  all  away  from  them.  I 
held  a  Council  with  their  Chiefs  and  Head-men — told  them  if  they 
would  throw  away  their  blankets  and  have  their  hair  cut,  I  would 
give  them  white  men's  clothes  to  wear  and  break  up  a  farm  for 
them  that  they  should  own  individually  themselves.  At  first 
they  were  very  reluctant  to  do  it ;  their  objection  was  that  if  they 
parted  with  their  scalp-lock — the  evidence  of  their  bravery — they 
would  bo  called  by  their  tribe  cowards  and  diggers.  After  coun 
selling  with  me  in  persuading  them  to  become  farmers,  they  said 
to  me,  "  Father,  you'll  want  us  to  quit  our  religion  after  you  get 
us  to  be  farmers;  we  don't  want  to  give  up  our  religion."  I 
asked  them  what  they  believed  in.  They  said  "  they  believed  if 
they  committed  no  murders,  murdered  no  white  people,  stole  no 
horses,  and  did  what  was  right,  they  would  have  plenty  to  eat 
after  they  died,  the  game  would  be  very  fat,  and  their  flints  would 
always  make  fire,  their  powder  and  lead  would  be  good,  and  their 
moccasins  would  never  wear  out."  I  then  asked  them  what 
would  happen  to  them  if  they  did  bad  and  killed  people.  They 
told  me,  "they  would  be  hungry  and  would  never  get  enough  to 
eat ;  the  game  would  be  scarce  and  lean,  and  they  would  have  to 
travel  a  great  way  after  it ;  their  moccasins  would  wear  out,  and 
it  would  be  hard  tp  get  skins  to  make  new  ones  ;  their  feet  would 


57 

get  sore,  and  they  would  always  be  tired  and  hungry,  and  never 
have  good  sleep."  I  then  promised  them  that  I  would  not  inter 
fere  with  their  religion,  told  them  that  their  religion  did  not  differ 
very  much  from  mine — only  I  expressed  my  religion  differently.  I 
told  them  that  I  would  leave  their  religion  to  the  Missionaries  ; 
that  all  that  I  wanted  them  to  do  was  to  raise  corn  and  potatoes, 
cattle,  and  hogs  and  sheep.  I  wanted  them  to  own  the  land  they 
occupied,  and  that  was  broken  up  for  them,  and  become  citizens, 
and  help  make  the  laws  that  govern  them — and  that  no  people 
could  prosper  without  law  and  industry.  Finally  sixteen  men, 
about  forty  years  of  age,  consented  to  have  their  hair  cut,  and  to 
dress  like  white  men. 

The  first  year  they  underwent  a  great  deal  of  persecution,  but 
they  were  very  successful  in  raising  crops.  The  uncivilized 
Indians  burnt  down  some  of  their  houses  and  killed  all  their 
cattle,  and  tried  in  every  way  to  get  those  sixteen  men  to  quit 
their  attempt  at  farming.  Those  that  had  changed  their  dress 
were  very  much  disheartened  and  sent  for  me.  I  told  them  "that 
their  trail  wTould  be  a  hard  one  to  break,  that  our  fathers,  the 
Britains,  had  lived,  as  they  did,  in  tepes,  but  that  there  were  a  few 
brave  men  among  them,  who  had  undertaken  to  make  a  new  trail, 
and  follow  it,  and  turn  their  attention  to  farming  ;  that  they  were 
persecuted  in  the  same  way  that  they  had  been,  and  their  trail  had 
been  almost  filled  up,  so  that  they  lost  sight  of  it.  A  great  many 
times  they  were  like  them  ;  their  hearts  were  on  the  ground. 
They  however  persevered,  and  in  a  few  moons  they  saw  their 
entire  tribe  taking  the  trail.  It  was  then  made  plain  and  easy  to 
walk  in."  I  told  them  "that  they  could  now  look  around  and 
see  what  a  great  people  we  were  ;  we  were  like  the  leaves  on  the 
trees,  or  the  grass  on  the  prairies.  That  one  seed  would  brino- 

O 

forth  one  hundred  ;  that  it  only  took  a  few  moons  for  it  to  ripen 
and  produce  food  for  them,  whilst  their  food  took  many  moons  to 
come  to  maturity,  and  the  advance  of  white  men  into  their  country 


58 

had  made  it  very  scarce.  In  addition  to  that,  the  white  men  had 
four  legs,  and  they  had  only  two  to  follow  them  with.  That  a 
great  portion  of  the  time  they  were  very  hungry  ;  and  that  if  they 
would  keep  on  the  trail  they  had  already  commenced,  they  would 
soon  have  plenty  to  cat."  I  then  asked  for  the  names  of  those 
who  had  stolen  their  cattle  and  taken  their  crops.  They  gave 
them  to  me.  I  took  the  entire  annuities  of  these  depredators,  and 
for  every  yoke  of  oxen  that  had  been  stolen  from  the  farmers,  I 
bought  them  two.  They  then  stopped  committing  depredations, 
and  over  one  hundred  of  them  asked  me  to  have  their  hair  cut — 
that  they  would  become  white  men.  The  result  was  that  in  three 
years  from  that  time,  there  were  over  three  hundred  good  farmers 
among  them  ;  and  according  to  the  report  of  the  Agent,  the  sta 
tistics  of  which  were  published,  they  had  raised  over  $200,000 
worth  of  produce,  a  large  portion  of  which  they  had  for  sale. 
Many  of  these  people,  under  the  influence  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hinman, 
and  of  Messrs.  Williamson  and  Riggs,  united  with  their  different 
Churches,  and  to  all  appearance  were  a  happy  people.  As  for 
industry  and  economy,  we  had  no  people  in  Minnesota  who  were 
ahead  of  them.  They  had  from  five  to  sixteen,  and  some  of  them 
as  high  as  twenty  head  of  cattle.  Their  attachment  to  their  cattle, 
to  their  hogs  and  chickens  became  so  strong,  that  they  would  not 
kill  one  of  them.  They  would  almost  starve  for  want  of  meat 
rather  than  kill  an  animal  they  had  raised  themselves.  My  opinion 
is,  that  had  the  Government  carried  out  their  treaty  stipulations 
with  the  wild  Indians  belonging  to  the  same  bands,  the  Med-a- 
won-con-tons,  the  Wa-pa-ka-tes,  the  Sis-i-tons,  and  the  Wa-pa- 
tons,  bands  of  Indians  which  include  the  Santees,  they  would  to 
day  be  a  happy  people,  all  farming.  When  I  left  them  in  1801, 
they  were  cultivating  thousands  of  acres  of  land,  and  had  three 
steam  saw-mills.  From  the  neglect  of  the  Government  in  carrying 
out  the  treaty  stipulations  with  the  Sioux,  over  one  thousand 
white  men,  women  and  children,  were  inhumanly  butchered,  not 


59 

saying  anything  of  the  lives  that  were  lost  among  the  Sioux,  and 
the  commencement  of  a  war,  of  which  the  end  is  not  yet,  and 
which  has  cost  the  Government  over  $30,000,000.  These  are 
lessons  which  are  fresh  in  the  mind  of  every  man,  woman  and 
child  in  Minnesota ;  and  the  Government  should  learn  the  lesson, 
that  it  is  cheaper  to  feed  the  Indians,  and  carry  out  the  treaty 
stipulations,  than  it  is  to  fight  them.  May  we  learn  our  duty  from 
the  past  and  do  it. 

The  same  results,  but  not  to  such  an  extent,  have  been  had  with 
the  Winnebagos  and  Chippcwas. 

A  few  words  as  to  the  massacre.  The  Indians  at  the  Lower 
Agency  (at  Redwood)  had  been  paid  during  the  four  years  that  I 
had  the  charge  of  them  on  the  last  of  June.  The  Yellow  Medi 
cine  or  upper  Indians  had  been,  during  these  four  years,  paid  about 
the  4th  of  July.  In  the  year  1SG1  (the  first  year  after  I  left  them)  the 
same  course  had  been  pursued  by  the  new  Administration.  Many 
of  the  uncivilized  Indians  had  to  come  400  and  500  miles  to  their 
payment.  This  they  did  as  usual  on  the  last  of  June,  1862,  with 
their  wives  and  children,  bringing  only  enough  dry  buffalo  meat  to 
last  them  to  the  place  of  payment,  expecting  plenty  to  eat  when 
they  got  there.  In  this  they  were  disappointed.  They  then  called 
upon  their  brethren,  the  Farmer  Indians.  The  crops  in  Minnesota 
not  being  ripe  at  that  season  of  the  year,  and  the  Farmer  Indians 
having  sold  everything  they  had  to  spare  in  the  Fall,  they  had  very 
little  to  give  them  except  their  animals — all  of  which  they  gave  up 
to  them  freely.  These  kept  them  in  food  till  about  the  15th  of 
August,  when  their  children  began  to  die  from  starvation.  They 
held  a  council,  and  concluded  they  would  all  starve  to  death  unless 
they  fought.  At  this  time  the  war  with  the  South  was  in  progress, 
and  their  Agent  had  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
a  company  of  half  breeds.  This  induced  the  Indians  to  believe 
that  their  Great  Father  had  used  up  all  his  white  children,  and 
that  they  had  very  little  to  do  in  order  to  take  back  their  own 


GO 

country.  They  concluded  to  go  to  Avar.  They  then  called  upon 
the  Farmer  Indians  to  assist  them  in  lighting  the  whites  and  taking 
back  their  own  country.  They  saw  that  their  annuities  had  not 
yet  come,  and  they  told  the  Farmer  Indians  that  their  Great  Father 
had  lied  to  them — that  he  was  starving  tJiem,  and  keeping  their 
money  and  goods  and  provisions  for  his  white  soldiers,  that  they 
were  too  weak  and  hungry  to  go  back  to  their  hunting  grounds, 
that  there  were  but  two  things  they  could  do,  one  was  to  lie  down 
and  die,  and  the  other  to  fight  and  take  their  country  back  ;  that 
they  had  resolved  in  Council  to  try  to  do  the  latter,  and  they  might 
as  well  die  fighting  as  starving.  The  Farmer  Indians  refused  over 
and  over  again  to  assist  them,  pointing  to  their  houses  and  to  their 
fields,  showing  what  the  Great  Father  had  done  for  them.  They 
said,  ' '  and  now  that  the  Great  Father  at  Washington,  the  Great 
Spirit  and  their  new  Savior  that  they  had  learned  so  much  about 
had  been  so  kind  to  them,  their  hearts  could  not  be  hard  enough  to 
spill  the  blood  of  the  children  of  the  Great  Father."  The  unciv 
ilized  Indians  told  them  they  would  burn  their  houses  over  their 
heads  if  they  would  not  fight.  They  replied  "that  they  might, 
but  they  would  not  fight  the  white  people."  The  uncivilized  In 
dians  then  sent  runners  along  the  Minnesota  valley  for  fifty  miles, 
and  burned  all  their  houses  and  saw  mills.  Even  when  they  saw 
their  houses  burned  they  refused  to  fight.  The  next  threat  was  to 
kill  their  wives  and  children.  This  they  could  not  stand.  They 
knew  it  would  be  done  and  they  consented  to  fight.  But  it  proved 
in  time  that  their  going  into  the  war  resulted  in  the  protection  of 
our  prisoners,  women  and  children.  They  went  so  far  in  many 
cases  as  to  put  themselves  between  the  prisoners  and  the  men  that 
wanted  to  murder  them.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  Christian  Indians 
there  would  not  have  been  a  white  man  left  about  the  Agency  to 
tell  the  talc,  nor  a  prisoner  left  alive.  Yours  Respectfully, 

W.    J.    CULLEN. 

of  Minnesota. 


61 

PJiiladelpJiia,  April  13,  1869. 

My  Dear  Friend : — Your  letter  of  yesterday  is  received,  and  I 
make  the  following  response  to  your  request. 

The  frequent  removal  of  our  Indian  tribes  has  been  the  chief 
cause  of  their  degeneracy — a  community  to  prosper  and  advance 
in  education  or  improve  in  morals,  must  have  a  permanent  abiding 
place,  and  learn  to  prize  the  rights  of  property.  Many  of  our 
citizens,  and  especially  those  in  power,  have  heretofore  been  led  to 
believe  that  the  interests  of  the  whites  as  well  as  the  safety  of  the 
Indians,  make  it  necessary  to  remove  the  latter,  and  to  keep  them 
constantly  in  advance  of  our  rapidly  growing  frontier  settlements. 
Consequently  Indians  have  had  no  home — no  guarantees  that  they 
could  reap  the  fruit  of  any  labor  or  money  that  they  might 
expend  in  improving  the  soil,  or  in  procuring  domestic  animals  or 
implements. 

Millions  of  dollars  have  been  paid  to  various  tribes,  and  large 
sums  have  been  expended  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  civilize  and 
Christianize  these  roving  children  of  the  forest,  through  Govern 
ment  agents.  An  investigation  of  the  facts  will  show  that  the 
tendency  has  been  to  retard,  rather  than  to  advance  the  object  so 
much  desired.  What  was  expended  one  year  in  making  improve 
ments,  was  abandoned  the  next,  by  the  removal  of  the  agent  from 
office,  or  of  the  tribe  to  a  new  and  remote  country.  From  time  to 
time  this  has  been  repeated,  until  the  poor  creatures,  having  lost 
all  hope  and  heart,  gave  themselves  up  to  dissipation  and  idle 
ness  ;  or  goaded  to  desperation,  have  made  war  upon  those  who 
they  believed  were  encroaching  upon  their  rights. 

It  is  true  that  Missionaries  have  been  among  them,  but  they 
could  only  tell  them  what  should  be  done,  without  having  the 
means  of  practically  demonstrating  the  advantages  to  be  gained 
from  Christian  civilization,  or  from  the  theories  they  taught. 

Annuities  received  by  tribes,  of  Indians  in  payment  for  large 
cessions  of  land  to  the  United  States  have  often  been  paid  in 


G2 

blankets,  guns,  scalping-knivcs,  or  in  paints,  ribbons,  brass — wire, 
and  other  useless  trinkets — all  tending  to  keep  them  in  a  savage 
state,  rather  than  to  civilize  them.  It  is  true  large  sums  of  money 
have  been  promised  to  them,  but  often  before  it  reached  their 
hands,  it  had  been  expended  in  the  purchase  from  their  traders  of 
mere  baubles.  • 

The  Government  has  at  times  endeavored  to  encourage  agri 
cultural  pursuits,  and  teach  the  mechanic  arts,  but  never  in  a 
manner,  or  upon  a  scale  adequate  to  the  requirements  of  the 
masses,  and  never  with  sufficient  guarantees  that  the  crops  of 
those  willing  to  labor,  should  not  be  eaten  up  by  the  idle  and 
vicious. 

If  they  had  in  severalty  held  the  fee  to  the  soil,  with  assurances 
of  permanent  ownership  and  protection,  until  prepared  for  self- 
government,  been  furnished  with  the  same  facilities,  and  given  the 
same  encouragement,  that  is  necessary  to  the  success  of  white 
men,  the  school-house  and  the  Church  would  ere  this  have  been 
welcomed  by  those  who  are  now  giving  the  Government  so  much 
trouble,  or  are  fast  fading  before  the  pressure  of  want,  starvation 
and  despair. 

Under  similar  circumstances,  every  other  race  of  men,  however 
enlightened,  would  have  degenerated.  The  system  inaugurated 
by  the  incoming  administration,'  if  carried  out  in  the  spirit  that 
conceived  it,  must  produce  results  not  only  beneficial  to  the 
Indians,  economical  to  the  Government,  but  gratifying  to  the 
Christian  community. 

To  a  great  extent  the  Indians  have  lost  all  confidence  in  our 
rulers  and  in  our  citizens,  most  of  them  believing  that  their 
destruction  is  desired  and  decreed  by  those  whose  protection  and 
sympathy  should  shield  them  from  every  wrong.  To  regain  con 
fidence  will  be  no  easy  task,  especially  if  any  agents  are  sent  among 
them,  whose  chief  qualifications  are  fealty  to  a  political  party,  or 
the  desire  for  personal  aggrandizement  by  unrighteous  means. 


G3 

The  Commission  authorized  by  Congress,  and  about  to  bo 
selected  by  the  President,  will,  if  earnestly  sustained  in  their  efforts 
by  the  Government,  soon  inspire  confidence,  and  cause  its  wards 
willingly  to  yield  to,  and  co-operate  with,  every  effort  made  in  their 
behalf.  Although  heretofore  I  have  very  often  acted  for  the 
Government  in  negotiating  treaties  with  tribes  of  Indians,  as  in 
dependent  nations,  yet,  after  long  experience,  I  now  look  upon  the 
system  as  pernicious,  and  in  all  respects  demoralizing.  The 
Indians  when  separated  from  their  natural  haunts  and  pursuits, 
are  but  children  incapable  of  managing  their  own  affairs,  and 
unfitted  to  cope  Avith  such  unscrupulous  white  men,  as  are  usually 
found  in  their  midst. 

Give  them  homes  in  severalty — furnish  them  with  means,  and 
teach  them  to  raise  cattle,  to  cultivate  the  soil,  and  to  use  me 
chanical  tools — teach  their  industrious  wives  and  children  the 
handicraft  for  which  they  have  great  aptitude — afford  them  for  a 
few  years  proper  protection  and  moral  surroundings,  and,  in  my 
opinion,  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  they  will  not  only  be  self- 
sustaining,  but  will  also  be  productive  citizens,  aiding  in  enriching 
the  Government. 

When  this  point  shall  have  been  reached  by  any  tribe,  education 
and  Christianity  will  be  craved  by  them,  and  they  will  aid  in  ex 
tending  its  benefits  to  others. 

Very  truly  yours, 

HEKIIY  M.  RICE, 
of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 


C4 

Washington,  D.  C.,  April  iq,  18G9. 
Mr.  WM.  WELSH. 

Dear  Sir: — You  ask  my  opinion  as  to  "the  best  means  of 
breaking  Indians  off  from  the  treaty-system  and  making  them 
WARDS  of  the  Government,  to  be  aided  just  as  far  as  is  necessary 
to  incite  them  to  self-support. ' ' 

As  far  as  my  personal  knowledge  of  the  treaty-system  extends, 
it  has  been  a  pernicious  mockery.  The  treaty-making  Indians 
were  a  party  to  the  treaty  only  on  paper.  The  stipulations  of  the 
treaty  were  proposed  by  the  Government,  and  the  Indians  were 
compelled  by  coercion  or  by  misrepresentation,  to  accede  to  them. 
The  treaty  became  a  "law  of  the  land,"  in  the  usual  form,  and 
the  Indians  found  themselves  subjected  to  a  law  without  land,  the 
provisions  of  which  they  never  voluntarily  agreed  to,  and,  in  many 
instances,  never  heard  of. 

Thus  the  Government  uniformly  took  the  Indian  lands  and  gave 
in  return  such  remuneration  as  it  deemed  expedient,  and  that 
remuneration  reached  the  Indians  in  such  manner,  and  at  such 
times,  as  circumstances  dictated. 

Then  why  use  coercion  or  false  pretences  to  obtain  the  Indian 
lands  ?  Why  not  declare  by  act  of  Congress  that  the  possessory 
right  to  the  soil  shall  be  in  law — (where  it  always  has  been  in 
fact) — in  the  United  States,  and  then  adopt  and  carry  out  a  liberal 
policy,  by  which  Indian  civilization  may  be  secured,  and  bora-fide 
individual  titles  to  land  for  agriculture  be  vested  in  the  Indians. 

But  apart  from  the  question  of  the  possessory  title  to  lands,  the 
treaty  system  presents  other  objectionable  features,  among  which 
I  may  mention  the  preservation  of  tribal  organizations,  presenting 
the  political  anomaly  that  a  man  born  in  the  United  States  is  not 
a  citizen,  but  being  a  citizen,  cannot,  under  existing  laws,  obtain 
citi~enship. 

"Tribal  organization"  preserves  among  the  Indians  a  system 
of  communism,  that  has  failed  wherever  the  experiment  has  been 


65 

tried  in  civilized  communities,  and  is  detrimental  to  Indian  civi 
lization.  Indeed,  I  believe  that  individuality  in  the  possession  of 
property,  is  one  of  the  great  industrial  influences  necessary  to  turn 
the  Indian  to  habits  of  labor. 

Satisfied  that  the  treaty-system  exerts  a  baneful  influence  over 
Indian  prosperity,  but  at  the  same  time  believing  that  the  Govern 
ment  should  not  make  a  historical  record  of  the  repudiation  of 
solemn  obligations,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  suggest  any  plan  by  which 
existing  treaties  can  be  abrogated,  other  than  "  to  cure  the  bite 
with  the  hair  of  the  dog."  All  existing  treaties  could  be  annulled 
by  treaty,  if  persons  possessing  the  confidence  of  the  Indians  were 
selected  to  negotiate  them.  Or  Congress  might  pass  a  general  law, 
providing  liberally  for  Indian  civilization,  and  making  it  applicable 
to  all  Indians  who  would  renounce  their  tribal  obligations,  and 
surrender  to  the  Government  their  interests  in  existing  treaties. 
This  would  at  the  same  time  do  away  with  Indian  treaties  and 
tribal  organizations,  while  the  Indians  would  be  permanently 
located  in  communities,  and  a  system  of  Indian  civilization  inau 
gurated  that  would,  with  proper  care  and  exertion,  absorb  the 
entire  Indian  population.  That  is,  if  Congress  will  act  in  good 
faith. 

You  also  ask  my  opinion  as  to  "the  feasibility  and  the  best 
mode  of  drawing  all  Indians  into  special  reservations,  where  they 
may  learn  to  govern  themselves." 

Probably  the  best  mode  of  drawing  Indians  into  reservations,  is 
suggested  in  the  proposed  act  of  Congress,  referred  to  above. 
That  the  Indians  are  susceptible  of  civilization,  that  their  industry, 
which  in  their  normal  state  is  devoted  to  the  chase,  can  easily  be 
transferred  to  agricultural  and  mechanical  pursuits,  are  questions 
fully  settled  in  my  mind.  That  the  Government  oiccs  the  Indians 
a  policy  that  will  develop  their  agricultural  and  mechanical  abili 
ties,  and  lead  them  to  civilization,  no  one  can  doubt. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  ease  with  which  Indians  may  be  drawn  into 


CG 

an  agricultural  life,  permit  me  to  give  examples  in  three  different 
tribes,  where  the  prejudices  of  Indian  men  against  common  labor 
were  overcome  by  trifling  exertion  and  small  expense. 

Previous  to  the  Black  Hawk  war,  I  traded  for  the  American  Fur 
Company  at  Flint  Hills,  now  known  as  Burlington,  Iowa.  The 
Sacs  and  Foxes  with  whom  I  traded,  were  the  most  warlike  and 
restless  of  the  north-western  tribes,  and  their  prejudices  against 
the  habits  of  the  whites  were  not  lessened  by  the  treatment  they 
received  from  the  settlers  east  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

Apanoose,  the  son  of  Tiema,  a  Fox  Chief,  was  my  sworn  friend, 
or,  according  to  the  Indians,  my  brother  ;  I  had  thought  a  great 
deal  upon  the  subject  of  Indian  improvement,  and  determined  to 
try  upon  him  the  plan  I  had  adopted  as  best  calculated  to  change 
the  habits  of  the  Indians. 

I  opened  the  subject  to  Apanoose,  using  such  arguments  as  sug 
gested  themselves  to  interest  him  in  the  project.  As  I  possessed 
his  confidence  and  spoke  his  language,  my  arguments  made  the 
desired  impression,  and  in  a  short  time  he  began  to  grow  anxious 
on  the  subject,  but  "he  had  never  used  either  axe  or  hoc,  and 
Icncw  not  how  to  work,  his  hands  would  blister,  &c."  At  the 
proper  time  I  proposed  that  we  should  go  to  work.  "  I  will  work 
with  you,  brother, ' '  I  said  ;  "  I  will  help  you  make  your  rails,  clear 
your  lands,  and  build  your  fence,  and  you  will  help  me  in  planting." 

In  a  few  days  he  began  to  grow  proud  of  his  ability  to  "work 
like  a  white  man  ;"  his  hands  became  hardened,  his  wife  ceased  to 
ridicule  his  awkwardness,  and  the  final  result  was  that  he  cleared 
and  fenced  a  ten-acre  lot,  which  he  and  his  wife  dug  up  and  planted 
in  corn,  potatoes,  turnips,  &c. 

I  had  furnished  the  axes,  hoes,  and  seed,  and  subsisted  the 
family  until  the  planting  was  completed  ;  but  could  not  afford  to 
subsist  them  longer,  and  he  had  to  return  to  the  chase ;  but  he  at 
tended  to  his  crop,  and  the  yield  provided  him  a  wragon,  a  cow,  and 
many  articles  of  clothing  for  himself  and  family,  besides  furnishing 


C7 

an  abundance  of  corn  and  potatoes  for  his  subsistence  during  the 
winter. 

The  success  of  Apanoose  induced  other  Indians  to  settle  around 
him  and  go  to  work,  and  when  I  left,  three  years  afterwards,  there 
were  over  two  hundred  acres  under  cultivation  in  the  Flint  creek 
bottom,  and  some  twenty  families  living  in  good  comfortable  log 
houses. 

But  when  the  whites  began  to  cross  the  Mississippi,  the  Indians 
were  driven  to  the  Iowa  river,  and  subsequently  to  the  Missouri, 
and  all  agricultural  interests  were  destroyed. 

From  Flint  Hills,  my  business  connections  carried  me  to  Poka 
gamon,  Minn.,  among  the  Chippeways.  Although  a  Missionary 
Station,  agriculture  wTas  unheeded,  the  Indians  obtaining  a  pre 
carious  subsistence  from  maple  sugar,  fish,  whortleberries,  and  wild 
rice,  and  some  venison  during  the  fall  and  winter. 

Flushed  with  my  success  with  the  Fox  Indians,  I  determined  to 
see  what  could  be  done  with  the  Chippeways,  and  during  the  win 
ter,  selected  two  men  to  experiment  with.  Having  induced  them 
to  commence  work,  I  furnished  tools,  seeds,  &c.,  and  subsisted 
them  and  their  families  until  the  planting  was  completed.  The 
crops  were  well  taken  care  of,  and  gave  a  good  yield,  and  the  fail 
ure  of  the  rice  crop  in  the  fall  made  the  corn,  potatoes,  pumpkins, 
and  turnips  very  valuable  to  the  Indians,  and  probably  saved  many 
of  the  little  band  from  starvation  during  the  winter. 

The  next  spring,  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  village, 
able  to  work,  devoted  themselves  to  clearing  and  digging  up  land, 
and  twelve  families  planted  about  one  hundred  acres. 

As  agriculture,  even  in  its  rudest  form,  was  at  that  time  un 
known  in  the  St.  Croix  Valley,  the  success  attending  the  labors  of 
the  Pokagamon  Band  created  an  agricultural  mania  throughout 
the  valley,  and  plantings  were  opened  at  Yellow  Lake  and  other 
points,  but  Pokagamon  became  the  centre  of  attraction,  and  the 
population  more  than  doubled.  Had  my  means  been  adequate,  I 


C8 

could  have  had  fifty  farms  started  the  third  year  after  I  located 
there,  and  men  doing  most  of  the  work. 

But  as  agriculture  prospered  the  fur  crop  diminished,  and  I 
changed  my  location  to  Lake  Traverse,  near  the  source  of  the 
Minnesota  River.  Here  corn  had  been  raised  in  large  quantities 
for  years,  and  I  did  not  interfere  with  the  system  of  its  culture. 
Still,  the  subject  of  Indian  improvement  continued  to  occupy  my 
mind,  and,  although  thus  far  successful,  I  determined  to  test  my 
system  still  farther.  Consequently,  when  I  left  Lake  Traverse  to 
locate  some  ten  miles  below  St.  Paul,  I  induced  a  young  man  from 
the  Lake  Traverse  Band  to  accompany  me.  He  wras  a  very  influ 
ential  brave,  was  entitled  to  wear  eleven  War  Eagles  and  five 
Crow  feathers  ;  he  would  have  considered  it  a  disgrace  to  cut  a 
stick  of  wood  or  hoe  a  hill  of  corn.  In  a  word,  he  was  a  type  of 
the  wild  Prairie  Sioux.  He  had  a  wife  and  one  child,  and  was  an 
industrious  and  successful  hunter. 

As  I  had  determined  to  open  a  farm  for  myself,  I  induced  him  to 
locate  near  me.  I  had  but  little  difficulty  in  getting  him  to  cut 
house  logs,  and  with  some  assistance  from  me,  he  built  a  comfort 
able  house  before  winter  set  in. 

This  was  the  entering  wedge.  He  found  that  he  could  work, 
and,  being  industrious,  he  took  to  labor  far  more  kindly  than  I 
had  anticipated,  and  in  the  spring  he  had  cut  and  hauled  rails  to 
enclose  about  twenty  acres.  With  but  little  assistance  he  built  his 
fence,  and  he  drove  the  oxen  that  plowed  his  Held,  one  of  my  men 
holding  the  plow. 

From  that  day  to  this  he  has  been  an  industrious  and  successful 
farmer,  although  the  whites  have  taken  three  farms  from  him,  and 
he  lost  the  fourth  by  the  outbreak  of  the  Sioux  in  1862.  His  chil 
dren  have  a  good  Sioux  education,  and  speak,  read  and  write  the 
English  well. 

All  these  experiments,  as  well  as  those  with  the  Chippeways  at 
the  Rabbit  River  Rapids,  on  the  Mississippi,  where  I  got  several 


GO 

farms  started,  and  used  Indians  to  work  in  the  Logging  Camp, 
were  made  simply  to  satisfy  myself  whether  Indian  men  could  be 
induced  to  labor,  instead  of  depending  upon  the  chase  as  a  means 
of  subsistence.  They  were  necessarily  limited,  but  were  entirely 
satisfactory,  so  that  when  I  was  appointed  Sioux  Agent,  I  had  no 
hesitation  in  urging  my  theory  before  the  officers  of  the  Indian 
Bureau. 

The  success  of  the  civilization  policy,  pursued  on  the  Sioux  res 
ervations  during  the  time  I  was  Agent,  is  on  record  in  the  Indian 
Office,  and  need  not  be  referred  to  here.  I  found  the  Sioux  in  a 
state  bordering  on  open  hostility  to  the  whites  when  I  took  the 
Agency.  When  I  left  it,  three  years  subsequently,  there  were  over 
two  hundred  prosperous  farmers  on  the  reservations.  In  less  than 
two  years  afterwards,  the  outbreak  took  place  which  depopulated 
the  Minnesota  frontier,  and  a  Sioux  war  was  inaugurated  from 
which  we  have  not  yet  recovered. 

I  hope  I  have  demonstrated  that  the  exertions  of  the  Indian  men 
may  be  directed  to  agricultural  pursuits  as  a  means  of  subsistence, 
and  that,  I  think,  disposes  of  the  feasibility  of  locating  them  on 
reservations.  But  in  the  present  state  of  the  Indian  mind,  they 
must  be  approached  with  caution.  Those  who  operate  among  them 
must  possess  the  confidence  of  the  Indians  before  they  can  expect 
to  change  their  manners,  habits  and  customs.  The  Indians  must 
see  that  supplies  have  been  provided  for  their  subsistence,  before 
they  will  locate,  and  they  must  feel  the  advantage  of  labor  before 
they  will  go  to  work.  To  make  labor  acceptable,  it  must  receive 
remuneration  ;  therefore  all  labor  should  be  paid  for  liberally.  If 
a  man  cuts  a  rail,  let  him  feel  that  he  receives  more  than  the  man 
who  remains  idle,  or  why  should  he  labor,  while  others  get  as  much 
without  labor  ?  The  objection  to  this  is  that  Indians  should  not 
be  paid  for  doing  their  own  work.  But  is  it  the  work  you  pay  for  ? 
The  payment,  although  ostensibly  for  making  a  rail,  is  simply  a 
premium  to  the  Indian  for  learning  how  to  make  rails,  to  build 


70 

fences,  to  erect  houses,  to  plow,  to  plant,  to  cultivate  crops,  to  b(\ 
come  self-supporting,  useful,  civilized.  It  is  an  inducement  to 
•work,  while  supplying  articles  necessary  to  the  laborer. 

Suppose  you  expend  a  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  ten  years  in 
feeding  and  clothing  a  family  of  Indians,  what  improvement  will 
you  make  in  their  condition  ?  None.  You  only  give  them  con 
firmed  habits  of  laziness,  and  destroy  all  incentive  to  self-support. 
But  expend  five  hundred  dollars  the  first  year  to  feed  them  gra 
tuitously,  as  it  were,  and  give  the  remainder  to  those  who  work, 
and  in  proportion  to  the  work  performed  by  each  individual,  you 
promote  industry,  foster  a  feeling  of  independence  and  self-reliance, 
and  cut  the  thorns  from  the  path  to  civilization.  The  gratuitous 
issue  of  provisions  could  be  diminished  one  half,  the  second  year, 
and  discontinued  the  third  year.  At  the  end  of  five  years  the 
family  would  be  self-supporting,  provided  they  have  a  market  for 
the  products  of  their  industry. 

At  the  end  of  ten  years,  by  our  present  policy,  the  Indians  would 
be  far  less  capable  of  civilization  than  they  are  to-day,  and  they 
would,  of  necessity,  remain  an  expense  to  the  Government,  while 
by  the  other  policy  they  would  have  become  an  enlightened,  re 
spectable,  and  industrious  Christian  people,  not  only  capable,  but 
willing  to  support  themselves  without  farther  aid  from  the  Govern 
ment. 

Just  as  fast  as  civilization  progresses  among  the  Indians,  just 
so  fast  they  become  capable  of  self-government,  and  should  have 
the  power  of  self-government  conferred  upon  them.  This  induce 
ment  to  become  civilized,  should  be  impressed  upon  the  Indians  in 
process  of  civilization,  in  an  unmistakable  manner.  Let  no  ad 
vance  be  disregarded,  but  make  political  rights  and  powers  keep 
even  pace  with  improvement. 

"Whether  the  United  States  Government  can  educate,  without 
too  great  cost,  or  whether  that  and  other  civilizing  processes  can 
not  be  better  done  in  connection  with  Missions  by  charitable 


VI 

efforts,"  is  of  far  less  importance  than  the  question  whether  cither 
the  Government  or  Missions  \vill  take  hold  of  the  subject  of  Indian 
civilization  by  the  handle.  Our  Indian  policy  has  been  so  tinkered, 
that,  like  the  pauper's  coat,  the  original  fabric  cannot  be  recog 
nized. 

There  arc  two  separate  interests  (both  tending  to  one  grand 
result);  one  should  be  controlled  by  Government,  and  the  other  by 
Missionaries.  Experience  has  taught  me,  that  religion  among  the 
Indians  (as  elsewhere)  can  only  be  taught  successfully  at  the  tail 
of  a  plow.  In  other  words,  it  mvistfottoic,  and  never  can  precede 
the  adoption  of  civilized  habits.  The  progress  of  religion  will  bo 
proportionate  to  the  march  of  agricultural,  mechanical  and  educa 
tional  improvement. 

Let,  then,  the  Government  control,  under  such  regulations  as 
will  insure  an  honest  and  judicious  expenditure,  the  appropria 
tions  necessary  to  establish  the  Indians  on  reservations,  whero 
they  may  be  induced  to  rely  upon  their  labor  for  subsistence  and 
clothing,  where  they  may  be  taught  the  use  of  agricultural  and 
mechanical  tools,  where  primary  and  manual  labor  schools  may  bo 
conducted  in  harmony ;  where  housekeeping  in  all  its  branches 
may  be  learned,  and  the  foundation  for  a  religious  education 
provided.  Then  let  "Missions  by  charitable  efforts,"  take  charge 
of  the  religious  education  of  the  Indians,  and  success  will  be 
certain. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  discarding  religion  from  the 
schools  or  other  operations  of  the  Government,  but  I  wish  to 
provide  against  the  scramble  for  the  control  of  the  Indians  that 
would  follow  a  policy  that  would  place  the  funds  in  the  hands  of 
religious  societies,  and  to  permit  education  to  prepare  the  minds 
of  the  Indians  to  some  extent,  to  understand  the  conflict  of 
opinions  between  different  sects,  that  have  so  long  harrassed  the 
civilized  mind. 

But  I  will  be  satisfied  with  any  policy  that  will  give  confidence 


T2 

to  the  people  in  the  honest  administration  of  our  Indian  affairs ; 
will  regain  the  confidence  of  the  Indians  in  the  integrity  of  the 
Government,  which  has  been  lost  through  the  vacillating  policy 
pursued  toward  them  the  past  few  years  ;  will  give  the  Indians 
permanent  agricultural  homes,  with  liberal  provision  for  their 
civil  and  religious  education,  the  only  means  by  which  peace 
between  the  whites  and  Indians  can  be  firmly  established ;  and 
will  lead  ultimately  to  the  civilization  and  Christianization  of  all 
the  tribes  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  R.  BROWN. 


CIVILIZATION   OF   AMERICAN   INDIANS.. 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE. 

The  Committee  appointed  by  Citizens  of  Philadelphia  to  proceed 
to  Washington  to  aid  in  promoting  legislative  and  executive  action 
favorable  to  Christian  civilization  among  the  Indians,  makes  the 
following  report.  The  Committee  deem  it  best  to  preface  their 
report  with  a  brief  account  of  the  causes  that  led  to  the  late  com 
plication  of  Indian  affairs. 

At  the  end  of  February  last,  just  as  the  late  Administration  was 
closing,  a  member  of  this  Committee,  owing  to  his  official  connec 
tion  with  a  Mission  to  the  Santee  Sioux  Indians,  was  summoned 
to  Washington  to  meet  a  delegation  of  seven  Indian  Chiefs,  two 
Missonaries  who  acted  as  their  friends  and  interpreters,  and  also 
Government  Agents,  Superintendents  and  the  Military  Officers  who 
had  been  connected  with  a  treaty  recently  made  with  the  various 
bands  of  Sioux  Indians. 

By  conference  with  these,  and  with  members  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  he  learned  that  Indian  affairs  were  so 
complicated  and  the  danger  of  a  general  Indian  war  was  so  immi 
nent,  that  intervention  by  disinterested  parties  would  alone  give 
the  promise  of  an  early  and  amicable  solution  of  the  difficulty. 

Under  an  Act  of  Congress,  approved  July  20th,  1867,  "  To  es 
tablish  peace  with  certain  hostile  Indian  Tribes,"  the  following 
persons  have  been  appointed  Indian  Peace  Commissioners.  Com 
missioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  N.  G.  Taylor,  Senator  J.  B.  Hender 
son,  Lieut.-General  W.  T.  Sherman,  Bvt.  Major  General  Wm.  S. 


Harncy,  John  B.  Saiiborn,  13 vt.  Major  General  Alfred  H.  Terry, 
S.  F.  Tappan,  and  Bvt.  Major  General  C.  C.  Augur. 

They  "were  authorized  by  said  Act  to  call  together  the  Chiefs 
and  Head-men  of  such  bands  of  Indians  as  were  then  waging  war, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  their  reasons  for  hostility,  and  if 
thought  advisable,  to  make  treaties  with  them,  having  in  view  the 
following  objects,  viz  : 

1st.  To  remove,  if  possible,  the  causes  of  war. 

2?id.  To  secure,  as  far  as  practicable,  our  frontier  settlements, 
and  the  safe  building  of  our  railroads  looking  to  the  Pacific  ;  and 

3rd.  To  suggest  or  inaugurate  some  plan  for  the  civilization  of 
the  Indians." 

On  the  7th  of  January,  1868,  the  Commission  made  its  report  to 
the  President,  who  transmitted  it  to  Congress.  That  report  is  so 
full,  so  frank  in  the  confession  of  the  wrong  doings  of  the  Govern 
ment  and  of  the  people  to  the  Indians,  and  so  suggestive  of  reme 
dial  measures,  that  it  should  be  in  the  possession  of  every  philan 
thropist.  The  report  was  accompanied  by  treaties  made  with  the 
Kiowas  and  Camanclics,  and  with  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahocs, 
and  a  supplementary  treaty  with  the  Apaches  of  the  Plains.  The 
Committee  reported  that  an  arrangement  had  been  made  to  meet 
the  Sioux  Indians  the  following  Spring  ;  and  on  the  29th  of  April, 
1868,  they  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  different  tribes  of  Sioux; 
the  Senate  approved  and  advised  the  ratification  of  that  treaty 
on  the  16th  of  February,  1869,  and  on  the  24th  of  February,  the 
President  proclaimed  it,  thus  making  it  a  law  of  the  land.  By  this 
treaty,  Indians  can  acquire  a  title  to  farms  and  to  citizenship;  the 
Santees  and  the  Y anktons  remaining  on  their  present  reservations 
contiguous  to  the  great  territory,  into  which  it  is  desired  to  gather 
the  remaining  tribes  or  bands  of  Sioux  Indians,  twelve  in  number. 

The  treaty  provides  for  all  the  aids  which  a  most  Christian  Gov 
ernment  could  be  expected  to  afford  to  Indians  whom  it  desires  to 
civilize.  The  Senate  made  ample  appropriations  to  carry  out  all 


the  provisions  in  the  treaty,  but  the  House  refused  to  concur,  as  is 
alleged  for  the  following  reasons. 

1st.  Because  the  House  believes  that  the  "War  Department  can 
manage  Indians  more  successfully  than  the  Department  of  the 
Interior. 

2nd.  Because  the  waste  of  money  appropriated  through  the 
Indian  Bureau  has  become  so  excessive,  as  to  impoverish  the  Gov 
ernment  and  to  dissatisfy  and  irritate  the  Indian. 

3rd.  Because  the  treaty  system  needed  a  thorough  revision  to 
prevent  frauds  in  inducing  Indians  to  cede  their  possessory  title  to 
lands,  and  to  discontinue  the  practice  of  treating  with  tribes  of 
Indians  as  independent  sovereignties. 

Both  Houses  were  so  firm  in  holding  to  their  opinions,  that  the 
sessions  of  the  last  Congress  closed  without  making  any  appropria 
tion,  although  it  was  known  that  there  was  imminent  peril  from  a 
general  Indian  war.  Fortunately,  General  Harney,  as  a  member 
of  the  Peace  Commission,  had  at  his  own  risk  contracted  for  sup 
plies  to  the  extent  of  about  half  a  million  of  dollars  beyond  the 
original  appropriation  by  Congress  to  the  Peace  Commission.  By 
this  expedient  and  by  the  beginning  of  some  civilizing  processes, 
the  hostile  Indians  who  had  been  drawn  from  the  line  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad,  and  gathered  into  a  large  reservation  where  there  is  no 
game,  were  fed  and  made  peaceful  and  hopeful. 

The  War  Department  had  also  kept  other  Indians  from  starva 
tion,  and  the  consequent  temptation  to  theft  because  they  had 
been  taken  from  their  hunting  grounds  and  placed  in  designated 
reservations. 

The  Senate  having  authorized  and  ratified  the  treaty,  was  bound 
in  honor  to  make  the  necessary  appropriations,  whilst  the  House, 
although  it  authorized  the  making  of  the  treaty,  had  firmly  re 
solved  not  to  acknowledge  it,  under  the  intelligent  belief  that  it 
would  be  better  for  the  Indian  and  for  the  country,  at  once  to 
change  the  system  which  had  been  productive  of  nothing  but  evil. 


The  War  Department  naturally  sympathized  with  the  House, 
whilst  the  sympathy  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  was  with 
the  Senate.  Both  departments  had  been  represented  in  the  Peace 
Commission,  which  had  saved  the  country  from  an  Indian  war, 
that  would  have  devastated  the  frontier,  sacrificed  many  lives,  and 
cost  at  least  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars  a  year. 

These  facts  having-  been  communicated  to  a  body  of  philan 
thropic  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  they  appointed  the  Committee 
which  is  now  reporting,  and  sent  them  to  Washington  to  confer 
with  the  authorities  as  to  the  best  means  of  remedying  the  existing 
Indian  troubles.  That  Committee,  having  previously  arranged  for 
an  interview  with  President  Grant  and  the  Hon.  J.  D.  Cox,  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior,  had  the  privilege  of  a  full  and  frank  conference 
with  them  on  the  24th  clay  of  March.  They  told  the  President 
that  in  common  with  other  friends  of  the  Indian,  their  hearts 
thrilled  with  joy  when  the  following  paragraph  in  his  inaugural 
address  was  heard  or  read  by  them  : — "The  proper  treatment  of 
the  original  occupant  of  this  land,  the  Indian,  is  one  deserving  of 
careful  study.  I  will  favor  any  course  towards  them  which  tends 
to  their  civilization,  Christiaiiization,  and  ultimate  citizenship." 

The  Committee  told  the  President  that  they  came  to  assure  him 
that  he  would  be  cordially  supported  by  the  most  intelligent  and 
influential  of  our  Christian  people,  in  every  well  directed  effort  to 
carry  out  the  spirit  of  his  inaugural  address,  and  to  maintain  the 
faith  of  a  Christian  nation  writh  a  down-trodden  people.  The 
Government  could  do  much,  very  much,  toward  the  civilization  of 
the  Indian  ;  but  without  the  co-operation  of  Christian  philanthro 
pists  the  waste  of  money  would  be  great,  and  the  result  unsatis 
factory,  as  had  been  evidenced  by  the  small  results  from  the  largo 
sums  expended  in  efforts  to  educate  Indian  children.  The  Govern 
ment  by  its  aid  in  bringing  Indians  from  a  nomadic  to  a  settled 
life,  by  gathering  them  into  large  territories  where  alone  they 
could  be  made  hopeful  and  incited  to  self-support  and  self-govern- 


77 

merit,  and  by  encouraging  them  in  other  processes  of  civilization, 
could  promote  their  Christianization ;  but,  surely  it  would  need 
help  to  effect  this  radical  change  in  the  religious  belief  and  habits 
of  our  home  heathen. 

The  Committee  then  told  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  that 
although  he  was  entitled  to  the  highest  confidence  of  the  people, 
and  they  felt  sure  he  would  gain  that  confidence,  yet  he  must  be 
aware  that  the  Indian  Department  had  hitherto  been  prostituted 
to  the  most  flagrant  abuses,  to  increase  political  patronage.  What 
had  been  before,  might  be  again,  unless  some  plan  could  be  devised 
to  protect  him  and  the  Indian  Department  from  the  claims  for 
patronage  by  political  leaders,  which  through  usance  were  well 
nigh  irresistible.  That  certainly  men  who  had  earned  a  high  repu 
tation  for  Christian  philanthropy  would  be  unwilling  to  unite  with 
the  Government,  unless  there  was  some  restraint  put  upon  the 
claims  of  party  on  appropriations  for  civilization  and  other  chari 
table  uses  among  the  Indians. 

The  Committee  then  said  that  their  high  respect  for  the  Execu 
tive  and  for  his  Secretary,  encouraged  them  to  make  a  proposal, 
which  seemed  to  be  necessary  to  loosen  the  dead  lock  between  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives.  They  had  already  conferred 
with  prominent  members  of  the  late  Peace  Commission,  with  the 
Secretary  of  War  and  with  Licut.-Gen.  Sherman,  and  they  believed 
that  all  of  them  were  prepared  to  give  their  cordial  assent  to  the 
following  proposal,  viz  :  That  Congress  be  asked  to  authorize  the 
appointment  by  the  President  of  five  citizens,  to  serve  gratuitously 
as  Commissioners,  giving  them  authority  to  act  jointly  with  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  expending  any  money  that  might  bo 
appropriated  to  carry  out  the  spirit  of  the  treaty  recently  mado 
with  the  Sioux  and  other  affiliated  bands  of  Indians.  The  Com 
mittee  stated  that  as  their  proposal  was  experimental,  they  con 
fined  it  to  action  in  the  new  territory  into  which  the  Sioux  and 
other  Indians  were  being  gathered.  That  they  were  led  to  believe 


78 

that  the  House  was  entirely  willing  to  carry  out  the  spirit  of  the 
treaty,  but  that  from  jealousy  of  the  treaty  making  power  enjoyed 
by  the  Senate  when  acting  with  the  President  and  from  other 
causes,  they  would  not  recognize  the  treaties  recently  made. 

The  Committee  told  the  President  and  Secretary  that  they  de 
sired  perfect  frankness,  for  although  the  proposal  was  not  made 
with  a  desire  to  have  any  member  of  the  Committee  placed  upon 
the  Commission,  yet  it  did  seem  presumptuous  to  suggest  that  a 
Cabinet  Officer  should  share  his  responsibilities  with  others.  The 
Committee,  however,  wished  it  distinctly  understood  that  whilst 
the  Commission,  as  suggested  by  them,  could  effectually  check  tho 
misdirection  of  funds  by  a  joint  control  over  every  expenditure, 
yet  it  desired  that  all  the  Government  machinery  and  agencies 
should  be  continued. 

The  Committee  further  stated  that  through  the  Association  of 
Christian  philanthropists  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  tho 
lost  confidence  of  Congress  could  be  regained,  the  Indians  made 
more  hopeful,  and  the  whole  Christian  community  aroused  to  co 
operate  with  the  Government  in  "  civilizing,  Christianizing,  and 
ultimately  making  citizens  of  the  Indians."  The  Committee 
thought  that  Government  money  should  not  be  expended  by 
churches,  and  that  sufficient  sums  for  teaching,  caring  for  the 
sick  or  preaching,  would  be  freely  proffered,  when  the  charitable 
people  of  this  country  were  inspired  with  confidence. 

After  a  long  and  frank  conference  between  the  President,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  the  various  members  of  the  Com 
mittee,  all  of  whom  expressed  their  sentiments  more  or  less  fully, 
the  President  gave  his  cordial  assent  to  the  proposal,  and  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior  magnanimously  desired  that  it  should  be  ex 
tended  to  all  appropriations  to  the  Indian  Department.  He  further 
said  that  he  had  been  hoping  for  aid  in  the  care  of  the  Indians 
similar  to  that  afforded  to  the  War  Department  by  the  Sanitary 
and  Christian  Commissions. 


Governor  Marshall,  of  Minnesota,  chanced  to  he  present,  and 
was  asked  to  remain,  as  he  had  large  experience  in  war  and  in 
peace  with  the  Chippeways,  the  Sioux  and  other  tribes  of  Indians. 
It  was  very  gratifying  to  the  Committee  to  learn  from  the  Governor 
that  he  cordially  approved  of  all  that  had  been  said  and  done,  and 
that  he  was  most  hopeful  of  the  civilizing  and  Christianizing 
processes  which  had  been  referred  to.  He  also  expressed  great 
confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  Government,  if  supported  by 
Christian  philanthropists,  to  gather  the  wild  Indians  into  a  largo 
reservation,  and  in  a  reasonable  time  to  make  them  productive 
herdsmen  and  agriculturists. 

The  Committee  then  proceeded  to  the  Capitol  and  arranged  with 
the  Committee  of  the  Senate  on  Indian  affairs  for  a  meeting  on  the 
following  morning.  They  also  conferred  with  the  Chairman  of 
that  Committee,  and  with  the  Speaker  and  other  prominent  mem 
bers  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  they  became  satisfied 
that  their  proposal  would  meet  with  favor  in  the  House,  and  that 
ultimately  it  would  be  approved  of  by  the  Senate. 

On  the  next  morning  they  obtained  the  following  letter  from  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  to  give  weight  to  their  interview  with 
Committees  of  the  Senate  and  of  the  House. 

Department  of  tlie  Interior,         ) 
Washington,  D.  C.,  25  March,  18G9.  j" 

Gentlemen: — I  take  great  pleasure  in  saying  to  you  that  the 
proposition  submitted  by  you  to  the  President  yesterday,  for  the 
appointment  of  a  Commission  to  co-operate  with  this  Department 
in  the  work  of  civilizing  the  American  Indians  and  expending  such 
funds  as  may  be  appropriated  by  Congress  for  that  purpose,  under 
existing  treaties  or  otherwise,  meets  his  heartiest  approval  as  well 
as  my  own. 

I  believe  that  a  concerted  effort  between  the  good  people  of  the 
country,  whose  hearts  are  interested  in  this  work,  and  the  Govern- 


80 

mcnt  itself,  will  give  ground  to  hope  for  results  which  former 
systems  have  failed  to  effect. 

The  condition  of  several  tribes  on  our  frontiers  is  now  such  that 
the  question  of  immediate  and  thorough  action  looking  to  civiliza 
tion,  is  the  only  alternative  or  mode  of  escape  from  exterminating 
wars. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  D.  Cox, 
Secretary. 

After  conferring  freely  with  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs, 
the  following  form  of  amendment  to  the  Indian  Appropriation 
Bill  was  suggested  in  place  of  the  appropriations  made  previously 
by  the  Senate  and  rejected  by  the  House. 

"For  promoting  the  civilization  of  the  Sioux  nation  of  Indians 
and  other  Indians,  and  for  fulfilling  the  obligations  of  the  govern 
ment  to  them,  the  sum  of  three  millions  of  dollars,  or  so  much  as 
may  be  necessary,  to  be  expended  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
with  joint  approval  and  consent  of  himself,  and  five  commissioners 
to  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who  shall 
receive  no  compensation,  nor  be  in  any  wise  interested  in  any  trans 
action  under  this  appropriation." 

From  this  interview  it  became  apparent  that  the  Senate  felt  that 
it  was  obligated  to  make  appropriations  in  strict  accordance  with 
treaties  which  it  had  ratified  so  recently,  but  if  the  House  disagreed, 
as  they  had  a  perfect  right  to  do,  the  Senate  would  then  be  well 
disposed  to  accede  to  the  views  of  the  Committee. 

An  interview  was  then  obtained  with  the  Chairman  and  other 
members  of  the  House  Committee  on  Appropriations,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  a  very  cordial  concurrence  in  the  proposed  plan.  An 
interview  was  then  had  with  the  Chairman  of  the  Senate's  Com 
mittee  on  Appropriations,  and  as  he  seemed  ready  to  co-operate, 


81 

the  Committee  returned  to  Philadelphia  after  a  further  conference 
with  other  members  of  Congress. 

Subsequently,  when  the  Indian  appropriations  were  about  to  be 
considered  in  the  Senate,  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  went 
again  to  Washington,  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  the  Chairman  of  the  Senate's  Committees  on  Indian 
Affairs  and  on  Appropriations,  and  the  Chairman  of  the  House  Com 
mittee  on  Appropriations,  the  following  legislation  was  obtained  as 
an  amendment  to  the  general  Indian  Appropriation  Bill  that  had 
already  been  concurred  in. 

"That  there  be  appropriated  the  further  sum  of  two  millions  of 
dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  to  enable  tho 
President  to  maintain  the  peace  among  and  with  the  various  tribes, 
bands,  and  parties  of  Indians,  and  to  promote  civilization  among 
said  Indians,  bring  them  where  practicable  upon  reservations,  re 
lieve  their  necessities,  and  encourage  their  efforts  at  self-support ; 
a  report  of  all  expenditures  under  this  appropriation  to  be  made  in 
detail  to  Congress  in  December  next ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  ena 
bling  the  President  to  execute  the  powers  conferred  by  this  act,  he 
is  hereby  authorized,  at  his  discretion,  to  organize  a  Board  of 
Commissioners,  to  consist  of  not  more  than  ten  persons,  to  bo 
selected  by  him  from  men  eminent  for  their  intelligence  and  phi 
lanthropy,  to  serve  without  pecuniary  compensation,  who  may 
under  his  direction  exercise  joint  control  with  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  over  the  disbursement  of  the  appropriations  made  by  this 
act,  or  any  part  thereof  that  the  President  may  designate  ;  and  to 
pay  the  necessary  expenses  of  transportation,  subsistence  and  clerk 
hire  of  said  Commissioners  while  actually  engaged  in  said  service, 
there  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  the  sum  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars, 
or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary. 

Sec.  5.     And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  nothing  in  this  act  con 
tained,  or  in  any  of  the  provisions  thereof,  shall  be  so  construed  as 


82 

to  ratify  or  approve  any  treaty  made  with  any  tribes,  bands  or 
parties  of  Indians,  since  the  twentieth  day  of  July,  eighteen  hun 
dred  and  sixty-seven.' ' 

The  sum  appropriated,  although,  apparently  only  two- thirds  of 
that  asked  for,  is  virtually  more  than  was  suggested,  because  the 
leaders  of  the  House  in  their  debate  stated  that  as  Congress  would 
again  meet  in  December,  it  could  then  increase  the  appropriation 
if  the  commission  and  the  officers  of  the  government  were  success 
ful  in  adopting  any  measures  by  which  Indians  were  likely  to  be 
civilized  and  induced  to  make  their  labor  productive. 

The  sequel  to  the  very  pleasant  duties  of  the  Committee  may  be 
learned  from  the  following  letter : 

Department  of  the  Interior,         ^ 
Washington,  D.  C.,  IZth  April,  18G9.  j| 

Dear  Sir : — The  President  has  directed  me  to  invite  you  to  be 
come  one  of  the  Commission  provided  for  by  the  late  act  of  Congress 
to  act  as  auxiliary  to  this  Department  in  the  supervision  of  the 
work  of  gathering  the  Indians  upon  reservations,  &c. 

The  Commission  will  serve  without  pay,  except  for  expenses 
actually  incurred  in  traveling,  and  it  is  expected  to  act  both  as  a 
consulting  board  of  advisers,  and  (through  their  sub-committees) 
as  Inspectors  of  the  Agencies,  Ac.,  in  the  Indian  country. 

The  design  of  those  who  suggested  the  Commission,  was  that 
something  like  a  Christian  Commission  should  be  established, 
having  the  civilization  of  the  Indian  in  view,  and  laboring  to 
stimulate  public  interest  in  this  work,  whilst  also  co-operating 
with  the  Department  in  the  specific  purpose  mentioned. 

The  following  gentlemen  have  been  requested  to  become  members 
of  the  Board  with  you  :  Hon.  John  Y.  Farwell,  Chicago  ;  George 
II.  Stuart,  Philadelphia  ;  James  E.  Ycatman,  St.  Louis  ;  Wm.  E. 
Dodge,  New  York  ;  E.  S.  Tobcy,  Boston  ;  and  Felix  R.  Bruiiot, 
of  Pittsburgh. 


83 

Perhaps  two  others  will  bo  added,  and  as  soon  as  answers  are 
received,  a  preliminary  meeting  will  bo  called  here. 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  D.  Cox, 

Secretary. 
WM.  WELSH,  Esq.,  Philadelphia. 

Under  the  firm  belief  that  they  were  divinely  guided  and  aided, 
the  Committee  feel  very  grateful  to  God  that  their  efforts  were 
successful,  and  they  hope  that  before  the  close  of  the  present  Ad 
ministration,  all  our  Indians  wrill  become  wards  of  the  Government, 
receiving  from  it  full  protection,  and  such  assistance  as  they  may 
need,  to  enable  them  to  become  self-supporting  and  self-governing 
citizens. 

Before  closing  this  report,  it  may  be  well  to  remove  a  misappre 
hension  which  is  very  general. 

The  President  called  upon  the  Society  of  Friends  to  nominate 
some  of  the  Agents  who  reside  Math  the  Indians,  and  some  of  the 
Superintendents  who  watch  over  the  Indian  Agencies.  These  are 
salaried  officers,  and  this  is  the  work  that  was  detailed  to  that  most 
excellent  and  charitable  Christian  body,  but  as  the  President  had 
already  given  marked  prominence  to  that  Society,  he  did  not  place 
any  of  their  members  on  the  Commission. 

The  precise  duty  of  the  Indian  Commission  will  not-  be  deter 
mined  until  they  meet  and  confer  with  the  President  and  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Interior.  It  is,  however,  expected  that  they  will 
supervise  the  whole  work  of  the  Indian  Department,  consider  tho 
best  means  of  gathering  Indians  into  reservations,  inspiring  them 
with  confidence  in  the  Government  and  stimulating  them  to  self- 
improvement,  self-support  and  self-government,  not  as  independent 
tribes,  but  as  States  equal  in  privileges  with  the  other  States  in 
the  Union.  It  is  further  expected  thai  the  Indians  will  look  to  the 
Commissioners  as  their  special  friends  who  will  sympathize  with 


84 

them  in  all  their  troubles,  and  claim  from  the  Government  protec 
tion  for  them  whenever  they  are  oppressed.  The  Commission  will 
no  doubt  endeavor  to  stir  up  their  fellow-Christians  to  a  higher 
measure  of  zeal  and  intelligence  and  liberality  for  the  benefit  of 
these  home  heathen,  than  it  has  ever  manifested  in  the  heathen  of 
other  lands. 

The  mission  of  the  Committee  ends  with  this  report,  therefore 
they  record  their  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  uniform  courtesy 
and  kindness  shown  to  them  by  the  President,  by  members  of  his 
Cabinet  and  by  Congressmen,  from  all  of  whom  they  received  an 
immediate  and  patient  hearing,  and  in  each  case,  a  deep  interest 
in  the  purpose  of  their  mission  was  practically  manifested. 

The  Committee  are  humiliated  with  the  increased  consciousness 
that  Christian  men  who  have  the  confidence  of  their  fellow-citizens, 
arc  often  criminal  in  keeping  aloof  from  public  service,  under  the 
excuse  or  the  mistaken  belief,  that  they  can  have  little  influence 
even  when  public  good  is  evidently  the  sole  incentive  to  action. 
Their  recent  experience  has  deeply  impressed  them  with  the  belief 
that  the  courteous  proffer  of  intelligent  assistance  must  take  the 
place  of  the  private  and  public  abuse  now  so  freely  poured  upon 
all  who  are  in  any  public  office,  or  it  will  be  vain  to  expect  a  refor 
mation  among  those  in  power,  or  to  improve  materially  the  moral 
and  intellectual  standard  of  candidates  for  office. 
Respectfully  submitted  by 

WILLIAM  WELSH,  Chairman. 
ELI  K.  PRICE, 
WILLIAM  STRONG, 
GEORGE  H.  STUART, 
SAMUEL  R.  SHIPLEY, 
JOHN  S.  HILLES, 
Philadelphia,  April  24.  Committee. 


85 


CONCLUDING  APPEAL. 

.  Diverse  occurrences  are,  at  this  extraordinary  juncture  in  Indian 
affairs,  so  strangely  combining,  as  to  whisper  this  hopeful  pro 
phecy  into  the  ears  of  a  poor,  down-trodden,  desponding  people: — 
"  When  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look  up  and  lift 
up  your  heads,  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh." 

The  following  prayer  is,  by  agreement  among  the  friends  of  the 
Indian,  being  offered  in  humility,  faith  and  hope  at  many  a  family 
altar  and  in  many  a  closet. 

"Almighty  and  most  merciful  God,  the  Father  of  the  friendless, 
and  the  Helper  of  the  helpless,  have  pity,  we  beseech  Thee,  upon 
the  Indian  tribes  who  dwell  in  this  our  land.  Send  to  them  the 
light  and  comfort  of  Thy  Holy  Gospel.  Bless  all  the  means  used 
to  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  Thy  dear  Son,  who  died  for  the 
salvation  of  all  men.  Guide  with  Thy  Spirit — guard  with  Thy 
power — sustain  with  Thy  love,  all  those  who  minister  to  them  in 
spiritual  things,  and  bear  to  them  the  tidings  of  redemption.  Stir 
up  the  hearts  of  all  who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians,  to 
prayer  and  deeds  of  mercy  in  behalf  of  this  perishing  race.  Give 
to  our  rulers  a  sense  of  honor,  truth  and  justice  in  all  their  deal 
ings  with  them,  and  fill  this  whole  nation  with  compassion  for  this 
poor  and  scattered  people;  'and  so  fetch  them  home,  blessed 
Lord,  to  Thy  flock,  that  they  may  be  saved  among  the  remnant  of 
the  true  Israelites,  and  be  made  one  fold  under  one  Shepherd.' 
All  which  we  ask  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  AMEN." 

The  President  of  the  United  States  and  others  in  authority  have 
openly  avowed  their  determination  to  deal  mercifully  with  the 
Indian ;  and  although  harassed  with  the  overwhelming  cares  of 


86 

office,  they  are  already  carrying  their  charitable  resolves  into 
practice.  Seme  consciences  are  becoming  sensitively  active,  be 
cause  of  national  and  individual  wrong-doings  to  the  Indian, 
although  hitherto  the  possessors  of  these  consciences  deemed  can 
didates  for  office  not  the  less  available,  because  they  had  defrauded 
the  Indian.  Even  the  timid  are  also  coming  to  the  Indian's  aid 
through  their  fears  that  the  warrior,  like  a  stag  at  bay,  being  hem 
med  in  on  every  side,  may  make  a  determined  stand  ;  or  that  liko 
a  hungry  prairie  wolf,  he  may  eat  up  the  substance  of  the  frontier 
settler,  to  satisfy  his  natural  cravings,  now  that  the  wild  game  is 
passing  out  of  existence.  Even  political  leaders,  the  most  far- 
seeing  of  all  human  beings,  wish  to  shake  off  the  odium  of  de 
pending  on  Indian  spoliations  for  party  patronage.  The  support 
ers  of  that  noble  band  of  Missionaries  who  hazard  their  lives  to 
carry  the  gospel  to  other  lands,  see  the  importance  of  caring  for  our 
home-heathen,  as  the  knowledge  of  past  injustice,  and  present  neg 
lect  to  the  natives  of  this  country  would,  if  known  in  some  heathen 
lands,  cause  the  banishment  of  many  a  Missionary. 

The  recent  action  of  Congress  and  of  the  Executive  indicates 
unmistakably,  that  in  the  judgment  of  this  nation  the  time  has 
arrived  when  our  Indians  are  to  be  gathered  into  reservations, 
kept  as  far  as  may  be  from  demoralization  by  wicked  men,  and 
trained  in  the  habits  of  civilized  people,  that  the  Christian  Church 
may  exert  its  holy  influences  over  them.  This  adoption  of  Indians 
as  Wards  insures  to  them  governmental  protection  and  assistance, 
and  will  oblige  the  Church  to  bring  her  missionary  spirit  and  her 
organization  and  administration  to  a  practical  test.  If  savages  and 
highly  intellectual  heathen  can  be  savingly  converted  to  Christi 
anity  in  foreign  lands  when  surrounded  by  the  grossest  sensuality 
and  idolatry,  and  the  Christian  Church  fails  to  disciple  our  two 
or  three  hundred  thousand  docile  and  reverent  home  heathen,  surely 
cither  the  organization  (so  far  as  it  is  of  human  device)  or  the  ad- 


87 

ministration  of  the  Church,  or  both,  will  need  a  thorough  revision 
and  reformation. 

Our  Government  has  now  thrown  down  the  gauntlet  to  philan 
thropists  as  well  as  to  Christians  ;  and  if  all  such  will  accept  tho 
challenge,  surely  Christian  civilization  can  in  a  few  years  he  extend 
ed  to  the  small  remnant  of  heathen  Indians. 

No  appeal  is  necessary  to  the  little  band  of  holy  women  who 
have  always  done  what  they  could  for  the  Mission  to  the  Sioux 
Indians.  Four  of  them  have  just  given  <$8,CCO  towards  the  cost  of 
a  Hospital,  with  a  Chapel  and  School-house  attached,  being  two- 
thirds  of  the  sum  that  will  be  required  to  complete  the  structure. 
This  gift  induced  a  lady  who  has  been  trained  for  hospital  work 
for  two  years  at  the  Bishop  Potter  Memorial  House  in  Philadelphia, 
to  agree  to  take  charge  of  the  Hospital  at  the  Santec  Sioux  Mission, 
as  soon  as  it  is  erected.  "Will  not  other  zealous  women  subject 
themselves  to  a  similar  training,  that  their  latent  powers  for 
teaching,  visiting  and  nursing,  may  be  educated  in  an  orderly 
school  of  practice,  under  the  supervision  of  experts,  that  they  also 
may  labor  with  advantage  among  our  home  heathen  ? 

All  Christians  arc  now  called  upon  to  make  liberal  free-will 
offerings  of  money  or  personal  service  ;  and  the  philanthropist 
will  find  among  the  Indians,  objects  of  peculiar  interest — promo 
ting  agricultural  or  mechanical  tastes  and  habits,  erecting  and 
sustaining  School-houses  or  Hospitals,  or  in  printing  books  which 
they  so  much  need.  The  various  religious  bodies  will  undoubtedly 
open  channels  through  which  Christian  beneficence  may  flow  ;  and 
the  newly  appointed  Commissioners  will  soon  be  prepared  to 
direct  the  efforts  of  individual  or  associated  philanthropists. 

W.  W. 


89 


REPORT  OF  INDIAN  PEACE  COMMISSIONERS 


MESSAGE 
FF.OM 


THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

TRANSMITTING 

Report  of  the  Indian  Peace  Commissioners. 


JANUARY  14,  1S38.— Referred  to  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affaira  and 
ordered  to  be  printed. 


To  tlie  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  transmit  herewith  the  report  made  by  the  commissioners  ap 
pointed  under  the  act  of  Congress  approved  on  the  20th  day  of 
July,  1867,  entitled  "An.  act  to  establish  peace  with  certain  hostile 
Indian  tribes,"  together  with  the  accompanying  papers. 

ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  January  14,  18G8. 


REPORT  TO  THE   PRESIDENT  BY  THE   INDIAN  PEACE  COMMIS 
SION,  JANUARY  7,  1808. 

To  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 

The  undersigned,  commissioners  appointed  under  the  act  of 
Congress,  approved  July  20,  1807,  "to  establish  peace  with  certain 
hostile  Indian  tribes,"  were  authorized  by  said  act  to  call  together 
the  chiefs  and  headmen  of  such  bands  of  Indians  as  were  then 
waging  war,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  their  reasons  for  hos- 


90 

tility,  and  if  thought  advisable,  to  make  treaties  with  them,  having 
in  view  the  following  objects,  viz  : 

\st.  To  remove,  if  possible,  the  causes  of  war. 

2d.  To  secure,  as  far  as  practicable,  our  frontier  settlements  and 
the  safe  building  of  our  railroads  looking  to  the  Pacific  ;  and 

3d.  To  suggest  or  inaugurate  some  plan  for  the  civilization  of 
the  Indians. 

Congress,  in  the  passage  of  the  law,  seemed  to  indicate  the 
policy  of  collecting  at  some  early  day  all  the  Indians  east  of  the 
Rocky  mountains  on  one  or  more  reservations,  and  with  that  view 
it  was  made  our  duty  to  examine  and  select  "a  district  or  districts 
of  country  having  sufficient  area  to  receive  all  the  Indian  tribes 
occupying  territory  cast  of  the  said  mountains  not  now  peacefully 
residing  on  permanent  reservations  under  treaty  stipulations, 
&c."  It  was  required  that  these  reservations  should  have  suffi 
cient  arable  or  grazing  lands  to  enable  the  tribes  placed  on  them 
to  support  themselves,  and  that  they  should  be  so  located  as  not 
to  interfere  with  the  established  highways  of  travel  and  the  con 
templated  railroads  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  The  subsequent  action 
and  approval  of  Congress  will  be  necessary,  however,  to  dedicate 
the  district  or  districts  so  selected  to  the  purposes  of  exclusive 
Indian  settlement. 

When  the  act  was  passed,  war  was  being  openly  waged  by 
several  hostile  tribes,  and  great  diversity  of  opinion  existed  among 
the  officials  of  the  Government,  and  no  less  diversity  among  our 
people,  as  to  the  means  best  adapted  to  meet  it.  Some  thought 
peaceful  negotiation  would  succeed,  while  others  had  no  hope  of 
peace  until  the  Indians  were  thoroughly  subdued  by  force  of  arms. 
As  a  concession  to  this  latter  sentiment,  so  largely  prevailing,  as 
well  as  to  meet  the  possible  contingency  of  failure  by  the  commis 
sion,  it  was,  perhaps,  \visely  provided,  that  in  case  peace  could  not 
be  obtained  by  treaty,  or  should  the  Indians  fail  to  comply  with 
the  stipulations  they  might  make  for  going  on  their  reservations, 
the  President  might  call  out  four  regiments  of  mounted  troops  for 
the  purpose  of  conquering  the  desired  peace. 

On  the  sixth  day  of  August  we  met  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and 
organized  by  selecting  N.  G.  Taylor,  President,  and  A.  S.  II. 
White.  Secretary. 

The  first  difficulty  presenting  itself  was  to  secure  an  interview 
with  the  chiefs  and  leading  warriors  of  these  hostile  tribes.  They 


91 

were  roaming  over  an  immense  country,  thousands  of  miles  in  ex 
tent,  and  much  of  it  unknown  even  to  hunters  and  trappers  of  the 
white  race.  Small  war  parties  constantly  emerging  from  this  vast 
extent  of  unexplored  country  would  suddenly  strike  the  border 
settlements,  killing  the  'men  and  carrying  off  into  captivity  the 
women  and  children.  Companies  of  workmen  on  the  railroads,  at 
points  hundreds  of  miles  from  each  other,  would  be  attacked  on 
the  same  day,  perhaps  in  the  same  hour.  Overland  mail  coaches 
could  not  be  run  without  military  escort,  and  railroad  and  mail 
stations  unguarded  by  soldiery  were  in  perpetual  danger.  All  safe 
transit  across  the  plains  had  ceased.  To  go  without  soldiers  was 
hazardous  in  the  extreme  ;  to  go  with  them  forbade  reasonable 
hope  of  securing  peaceful  interviews  with  the  enemy.  When  the 
Indian  goes  to  war  he  enters  upon  its  dreadful  work  with  earnest 
ness  and  determination.  lie  goes  on  an  errand  of  vengeance,  and 
no  amount  of  blood  satisfies  him.  It  may  be  because,  with  him, 
all  wrongs  have  to  be  redressed  by  war.  In  our  intercourse  with 
him  we  have  failed,  in  a  large  measure,  to  provide  peaceful  means 
of  redress,  and  he  knows  no  law  except  that  of  retaliation.  Ho 
wages  war  with  the  same  pertinacity,  and  indeed  in  the  same 
spirit,  with  which  a  party  litigant  in  full  conviction  of  the  right 
prosecutes  his  suit  in  court.  His  only  compromise  is  to  have  his 
rights,  real  or  fancied,  fully  conceded.  To  force  he  yields  nothing. 
In  battle  he  never  surrenders,  and  is  the  more  excusable,  there 
fore,  that  he  never  accepts  capitulation  at  the  hands  of  others.  In 
war  he  does  not  ask  or  expect  mercy.  He  is  then  the  more  con 
sistent  that  he  does  not  grant  mercy. 

So  little  accustomed  to  kindness  from  others,  it  may  not  be 
strange  that  he  often  hesitates  to  confide.  Proud  himself,  and 
yet  conscious  of  the  contempt  of  the  white  man,  when  suddenly 
aroused  by  some  new  wrong,  the  remembrance  of  old  ones  still 
stinging  his  soul,  he  seems  to  become,  as  expressed  by  himself, 
blind  with  rage.  If  he  fails  to  see  the  olive-branch  or  flag  of  truce 
in  the  hands  of  the  peace  commissioner,  and  in  savage  ferocity 
adds  one  more  to  his  victims,  we  should  remember  that  for  two 
and  a  half  centuries  he  has  been  driven  back  from  civilization, 
where  his  passions  might  have  been  subjected  to  the  influences  of 
education  and  softened  by  the  lessons  of  Christian  charity. 

This  difficulty,  meeting  us  at  the  very  threshold  of  our  duties, 
had  to  bo  overcome  before  anything  of  a  practical  character  could 


92 

be  accomplished.  Fortunately,  we  had  on  the  commission  a  com 
bination  of  the  civil  and  military  power  necessary  to  give  strength 
and  efficiency  to  our  operations.  Through  the  orders  of  Lieutenant 
General  Sherman  to  the  commanders  of  posts,  mid  those  of  Com 
missioner  Taylor  to  superintendents  and  agents  under  his  charge, 
in  the  proper  districts,  a  perfect  concert  of  action  was  secured,  and 
according  to  our  instructions  the  hostile  Indians  of  western  Da 
kota  were  notified  that  we  would  meet  them  at  Fort  Laramie  on 
the  13th  day  of  September  ;  and  those  then  south  of  the  Arkansas, 
including  the  Cheyennes,  the  Kiowas,  Comanches,  Arapahoes,  and 
Apaches,  that  we  would  meet  them  for  consultation  at  some  point 
near  Fort  Larned,  on  or  about  the  13th  day  of  October. 

Whilst  runners  were  being  employed  and  sent  out  to  notify  them 
of  our  pacific  intentions,  and  our  desire  to  meet  them  at  the  times 
and  places  stated,  the  commission  resolved  to  occupy  the  time  in 
tervening  before  the  first  meeting  in  examining  the  country  on  the 
upper  Missouri  river.  The  steamer  St.  John's  was  chartered,  and 
such  goods  purchased  as  were  thought  suitable  as  presents  to  the 
Indians. 

On  the  13th  of  August  we  met  at  Fort  Leavenworth  and  took  the 
statements  of  Major  General  Hancock,  Governor  Crawford,  of 
Kansas,  Father  De  Smct  and  others.  Thence  we  proceeded  to 
Omaha,  Nebraska,  and  took  the  statements  of  Major  General 
Augur  and  others.  At  Yankton  we  met  Governor  Faulk,  of  Da 
kota,  and  took  his  evidence  on  the  subjects  embraced  in  our  duties. 
Governor  Faulk,  at  our  request,  accompanied  the  commission  up 
the  river,  and  was  present  at  the  subsequent  interviews  with  the 
Indians  of  his  superintendency. 

Owing  to  the  low  stage  of  water  our  progress  up  the  river  was 
much  retarded,  and  we  failed  to  reach  Fort  Rice  as  we  had  in 
tended.  On  the  30th  of  August  a  point  twelve  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Big  Cheyenne  river  was  reached,  when  it  was  found 
necessary  to  turn  back  in  order  to  fill  our  several  engagements 
made  with  the  Indians  on  the  river  as  we  went  up,  and  then  reach 
Fort  Laramie  by  the  13th  of  September. 

On  the  return  trip  councils  were  held  with  various  bands  of  the 
Sioux  or  Dakota  Indians  at  Forts  Sully  and  Thompson,  and  also 
at  the  Yankton,  Ponca,  and  Santie  Sioux  reservations,  full  reports 
of  which  will  be  found  in  the  appendix.  Although  these  Indians 
along  the  Missouri  river  are  not  hostile,  and  do  not,  therefore, 


93 

legitimately  come  within  the  scope  of  duties  assigned  us,  yet  it  was 
thought  quite  important,  in  determining  whether  the  country  itself 
was  lit  for  an  Indian  reservation,  to  examine  into  the  condition  of 
those  now  there,  and  especially  those  who  are  endeavoring  to  live 
by  agriculture. 

The  time  given  us  was  too  short  to  make  anything  like  a  per 
sonal  inspection  of  so  large  a  district  of  uninhabited  country  as 
that  which  lies  north  of  Nebraska,  between  the  Missouri  river  on 
the  east  and  the  Black  Hills  on  the  west,  and  to  which  public  at 
tention  is  now  being  very  generally  directed  as  a  home  for  the  more 
•  northern  tribes.  We  took  evidence  of  those  who  had  traversed 
this  region  in  reference  to  the  soil,  climate  and  productions,  which 
evidence  will  be  found  in  the  appendix.  To  this  subject  we  shall 
again  allude  when  we  come  to  speak  of  reservations  for  Indian  set 
tlement. 

In  this  connection,  however,  before  returning  to  the  thread  of 
our  narrative,  it  is  our  duty  to  remark  that  the  condition  of  these 
tribes  demands  prompt  and  serious  attention.  The  treaty  stipu 
lations  with  many  of  them  are  altogether  inappropriate.  They 
seem  to  have  been  made  in  total  ignorance  of  their  numbers  and 
disposition,  and  in  utter  disregard  of  their  wants.  Some  of  the 
agents  now  among  them  should  be  removed,  and  men  appointed 
who  will,  by  honesty,  fair  dealing  and  unselfish  devotion  to  duty, 
secure  their  respect  and  confidence.  Where  the  present  treaties 
fail  to  designate  a  particular  place  as  a  home  for  the  tribe,  they 
should  be  changed. 

Returning  to  Omaha  on  the  llth  of  September,  the  steamer  was 
discharged,  and  we  immediately  proceeded  to  North  Plattc,  on  the 
Pacific  railroad,  where  we  found  a  considerable  number  of  the 
Sioux  and  northern  Cheyenne s,  some  of  whom  had  long  been 
friendly,  while  others  had  but  recently  been  engaged  in  war  A 
council  was  held  with  them,  which  at  one  time  threatened  to  result 
in  no  good  ;  but  finally  a  full  and  perfect  understanding  was  ar 
rived  at,  which  though  not  then,  nor  even  yet,  reduced  to  writing, 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe  has  been  faithfully  kept  by  them. 

It  was  at  this  council  that  the  hitherto  untried  policy  in  connec 
tion  with  Indians,  of  endeavoring  to  conquer  by  kindness,  was 
inaugurated.  Swift  Bear,  a  Brule  chief,  then  and  now  a  faithful 
friend  of  the  whites,  had  interested  himself  to  induce  the  hostile 
bands  to  como  into  this  council,  and  had  promised  them,  if  peace 


94 

were  made,  that  ammunition  should  be  given  them  to  kill  game  for 
the  winter.  This  promise  was  not  authorized  by  the  commis 
sioners,  but  we  were  assured  that  it  had  been  made  not  only  by 
him,  but  by  others  of  our  runners,  and  that  nothing  less  would 
have  brought  them  in.  These  Indians  are  very  poor  and  needy. 
The  game  in  this  section  is  fast  disappearing,  and  the  bow  and 
arrow  are  scarcely  sufficient  to  provide  them  food.  To  give  one  of 
these  Indians  powder  and  ball  is  to  give  him  meat.  To  refuse  it, 
in  his  judgment,  dooms  him  to  starvation;  and  worse  than  this, 
he  looks  upon  the  refusal,  especially  after  a  profession  of  friend 
ship  on  his  part,  as  an  imputation  upon  his  truthfulness  and  fidel 
ity.  If  an  Indian  is  to  be  trusted  at  all,  he  must  be  trusted  to  the 
full  extent  of  his  word.  If  you  betray  symptoms  of  distrust  he 
discovers  it  with  nature's  intuition,  and  at  once  condemns  tho 
falsehood  that  would  blend  friendship  and  suspicion  together. 
Whatever  our  people  may  choose  to  say  of  the  insincerity  or  du 
plicity  of  the  Indian,  would  fail  to  express  the  estimate  entertained 
by  many  Indians  of  the  white  man's  character  in  this  respect. 
Promises  have  been  so  often  broken  by  those  with  whom  they 
usually  come  in  contact,  cupidity  has  so  long  plied  its  work  deaf 
to  their  cries  of  suffering,  and  heartless  cruelty  has  so  frequently 
sought  them  in  the  garb  of  charity,  that  to  obtain  their  confidence 
our  promises  must  be  scrupulously  fulfilled  and  our  professions  of 
friendship  divested  of  all  appearance  of  selfishness  and  duplicity. 

We  are  now  satisfied,  whatever  the  criticisms  on  our  conduct  at 
the  time — and  they  were  very  severe  both  by  the  ignorant  and  the 
corrupt — that  had  we  refused  the  ammunition  demanded  at  this 
council,  the  war  on  their  part  would  have  continued,  and  possibly 
ere  this  have  resulted  in  great  loss  of  life  and  property.  As  it  is, 
they  at  once  proceeded  to  their  fall  hunt  on  the  Republican  river, 
where  they  killed  game  enough  to  subsist  themselves  for  a  largo 
part  of  the  winter,  and  no  act  of  hostility  or  wrong  has  been  per 
petrated  by  them  since. 

The  statement  of  this  fact,  if  it  proves  nothing  else,  may  serve 
to  indicate  that  the  Indian,  though  barbarous,  is  yet  a  man,  sus 
ceptible  to  those  feelings  which  ordinarily  respond  to  the  exercise 
of  magnanimity  and  kindness.  If  it  should  suggest  to  civilization 
that  the  injunction  to  "do  good  to  them  that  hate  us"  is  not  con 
fined  to  race,  but  broad  as  humanity  itself,  it  may  do  some  good 
even  to  ourselves.  It  will  at  least  for  the  practical  man,  honestly 


95 

seeking  a  solution  of  these  troubles,  serve  a  better  purpose  than 
whole  pages  of  theorizing  upon  Indian  character. 

At  this  point  we  were  informed  by  our  scouts  that  the  northern 
Sioux,  who  were  waging  war  on  the  Powder  river,  would  not  be 
able  to  meet  us  at  Fort  Laramie  at  the  time  indicated ;  whereupon 
we  adjourned  the  meeting  until  the-  1st  day  of  November,  and  re 
quested  them  if  possible  to  secure  a  delegation  to  meet  us  on  our 
return.  We  then  left  the  valley  of  the  Platte  and  proceeded  up 
the  Kansas  river  and  its  tributaries  to  Fort  Ilarker,  and  thence  by 
the  way  of  Fort  Larned  te  a  point  eighty  miles  south  of  the  Ar 
kansas  river,  where  we  met  the  Kiowras,  Comanches,  Arapahoes, 
and  Apaches  on  a  stream  called  Medicine  Lodge  creek.  It  should 
be  stated  at  this  point  that  when  we  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  on  our 
way  hither,  we  found  that  Lieutenant  General  Sherman  had  been 
summoned  to  Washington  city  by  the  President,  and  his  place  on 
the  commission  supplied  by  the  appointment  of  Brevet  Major 
General  C.  C.  Augur,  who  joined  the  other  members  at  Fort  Larned 
and  participated  in  all  our  subsequent  proceedings.  At  our  first 
councils  at  Medicine  lodge  the  larger  body  of  the  hostile  Cheyemies 
remained  oif  at  a  distance  of  forty  miles. 

These  latter  Indians  were  evidently  suspicious  of  the  motives 
which  had  prompted  us  to  visit  thorn.  Since  the  preceding  April 
they  had  committed  many  depredations.  They  had  been  un 
ceasingly  on  the  war-path,  engaged  in  indiscriminate  murder  and 
plunder.  They  knew  that  our  troops  had  but  recently  been  hunt 
ing  them  over  the  plains,  killing  them  wherever  they  could  find 
them.  They  could  not  therefore  appreciate  this  sudden  change  of 
policy.  For  two  weeks  they  kept  themselves  at  a  distance,  send 
ing  in  small  parties  to  discover  if  possible  our  true  intentions. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  Cheyennes  we  concluded  treaties  with 
the  K.iowas,  Comanches,  and  Apaches,  and  after  their  arrival  we 
concluded  a  joint  treaty  with  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes,  all  of 
which  we  herewith  submit  and  earnestly  recommend  for  ratifi 
cation. 

Before  these  agreements  were  perfected  we  had  many  interviews 
or  "talks"  with  the  several  tribes,  some  of  which  were  exceed 
ingly  interesting  as  illustrative  of  their  character,  habits,  and 
wishes.  Being  provided  with  an  efficient  short-hand  reporter,  we 
were  enabled  to  preserve  the  full  proceedings  of  these  councils,  and 
to  them  we  especially  call  your  attention. 


96 

After  giving  to  these  tribes  their  annuities,  which  had  been  de 
tained  at  the  military  posts  since  last  spring  on  account  of  their 
alleged  hostility,  and  after  distributing  among  them  some  presents, 
the  commission  returned  to  Omaha,  and  thence  by  North  Platte  to 
Fort  Laramie,  to  fill  our  second  engagement  with  the  hostile  Sioux 
and  Cheyennes  of  the  north. 

On  arriving  at  Fort  Laramie  we  found  awaiting  us  a  delegation 
of  Crows,  with  whom  a  council  was  held  and  their  statements 
taken.  Red  Cloud,  the  formidable  chief  of  the  Sioux,  did  not  come 
to  this  council.  The  Crows,  as  a  tribe,  have  not  been  hostile. 
Some  of  their  young  men,  no  doubt,  have  united  themselves  with 
the  hostile  forces  of  Ogallalla  and  Brule  Sioux  and  northern  Che 
yennes,  who  since  July,  1866,  under  the  leadership  of  Red  Cloud, 
have  spread  terror  throughout  this  entire  region  of  country. 

We  greatly  regret  the  failure  to  procure  a  council  with  this  chief 
and  his  leading  warriors.  If  an  interview  could  have  been  ob 
tained,  we  do  not  for  a  moment  doubt  that  a  just  and  honorable 
peace  could  have  been  secured.  Several  causes  operated  to  prevent 
his  meeting  us.  The  first,  perhaps,  was  a  doubt  of  our  motives  ; 
the  second  results  from  a  prevalent  belief  among  these  Indians 
that  we  have  resolved  on  their  extermination  ;  and  third,  the 
meeting  was  so  late  in  the  season  that  it  could  not  be  attended  in 
this  cold  and  inhospitable  country  without  great  suffering.  He 
sent  us  word,  however,  that  his  war  against  the  whites  was  to  save 
the  valley  of  the  Powder  river,  the  only  hunting  ground  left  to  his 
nation,  from  our  intrusion.  lie  assured  us  that  whenever  the 
military  garrisons  at  Fort  Phil.  Kearney  and  Fort  C.  F.  Smith 
were  withdrawn,  the  war  on  his  part  would  cease.  As  we  could 
not  then,  for  several  reasons,  make  any  such  agreement,  and  as 
the  garrisons  could  not  have  been  safely  removed  so  late  in  the 
season,  the  commission  adjourned,  to  meet  in  Washington  on  the 
ninth  day  of  December.  Before  adjourning  we  took  the  promise 
of  the  Crows  to  meet  us  early  next  summer,  and  sent  word  to  Red 
Cloud  and  his  followers  to  meet  us  at  the  same  council,  to  be  held 
either  at  Fort  Rice,  on  the  Missouri  river,  or  at  Fort  Phil.  Kearney, 
in  the  mountains,  as  they  might  prefer.  We  also  asked  a  truce  or 
cessation  of  hostilities  until  the  council  could  be  held. 

Returning  then  by  way  of  North  Platte,  we  received  new  as 
surances  of  peace  and  friendship  from  the  Indiana  there  assembled. 


91 

They  will  give  us  no  further  trouble  at  present.  They  arc  the  same 
to  whom  we  gave  the  ammunition. 

Since  arriving  here,  we  are  gratified  to  be  informed  that  Red 
Cloud  has  accepted  our  proposition  to  discontinue  hostilities,  and 
meet  us  in  council  next  spring  or  summer.  And  now,  with  any 
thing  like  prudence  and  good  conduct  on  the  part  of  our  own 
people  in  the  future,  we  believe  the  Indian  war  east  of  the  Rocky 
mountains  is  substantially  closed. 

Our  first  duty  under  the  act,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  to  secure 
a  conference  with  the  Indians.  Having  obtained  that  conference, 
our  second  duty  was  to  ascertain  from  themselves  the  reasons 
inducing  them  to  go  to  war.  These  reasons  may  be  gathered  from 
the  speeches  and  testimony  of  the  chiefs  and  warriors  hereto  ap 
pended.  The  limits  of  this  paper  will  not  permit  more  than  a 
brief  summary  of  these  reasons.  The  testimony  satisfies  us  that 
since  October,  18G5,  the  Kiowas,  Comanches,  and  Apaches  have 
substantially  complied  with  their  treaty  stipulations  entered  into 
at  that  time  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Arkansas.  The  only 
flagrant  violation  we  were  able  to  discover  consisted  in  the  killing 
of  James  Box  and  the  capture  of  his  family  in  western  Texas, 
about  the  15th  of  August,  18G6.  The  alleged  excuse  for  this  act 
is,  that  they  supposed  an  attack  on  Texas  people  would  be  no 
violation  of  a  treaty  with  the  United  States  ;  that  as  we  ourselves 
had  been  at  war  with  the  people  of  Texas,  an  act  of  hostility  on 
their  part  would  not  be  disagreeblc  to  us. 

We  are  aware  that  various  other  charges  were  made  against  the 
Kiowas  and  Comanches,  but  the  evidence  taken  will  pretty  clearly 
demonstrate  that  these  charges  were  almost  wholly  without 
foundation.  The  charges  against  the  Arapahoes  amounted  to  but 
little. 

The  story  of  the  Cheyennes  dates  far  back,  and  contains  many 
points  of  deep  and  thrilling  interest.  We  will  barely  allude  to 
some  of  them  and  then  pass  on. 

In  1851,  a  short  time  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California, 
when  a  vast  stream  of  emigration  was  flowing  over  the  western 
plains,  which  up  to  that  period  had  been  admitted  by  treaty  and 
by  law  to  be  Indian  territory,  it  was  thought  expedient  to  call  to 
gether  all  the  tribes  east  of  the  Rocky  mountains  for  the  purpose 
of  securing  the  right  of  peaceful  transit  over  their  lands,  and  also 
fixing  the  boundaries  between  the  different  tribes  themselves.  A 


03 

council  was  convened  at  Fort  Laramic  on  the  17th  day  of  Septem 
ber  of  that  year,  at  which  the  Cheyennes,  Arapahoes,  Crows,  As- 
sinaboines,  Gros-Ventres,  Mandans,  and  Arickarees  were  repre 
sented.  To  each  of  these  tribes  boundaries  were  assigned.  To 
the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  was  given  a  district  of  country 
''commencing  at  the  Red  Butte,  or  the  place  where  the  road  leaves 
the  north  fork  of  the  Platte  river  ;  thence  up  the  north  fork  of  the 
Platte  river  to  its  source  ;  thence  along  the  main  range  of  the 
Rocky  mountains  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Arkansas  river ;  thence 
down  the  Arkansas  river  to  the  crossing  of  the  Santa  Fe  road ; 
thence  in  a  northwesterly  direction  to  the  forks  of  the  Platte  river ; 
thence  up  the  Platte  river  to  the  place  of  beginning."  It  was 
further  provided  in  this  treaty  that  the  rights  or  claims  of  any  one 
of  the  nations  should  not  be  prejudiced  by  this  recognition  of  title 
in  the  others,  and  "further,  that  they  do  not  surrender  the  pri 
vilege  of  hunting,  fishing,  or  passing  over  any  of  the  'tracts  of 
country  hereinbefore  described."  The  Indians  granted  us  the 
right  to  establish  roads  and  military  and  other  posts  within  their 
respective  territories,  in  consideration  of  which  we  agreed  to  pay 
the  Indians  fifty  thousand  dollars  per  annum  for  fifty  years,  to  be 
distributed  to  them  in  proportion  to  the  population  of  the  respec 
tive  tribes.  When  this  treaty  reached  the  Senate,  "fifty  years" 
was  stricken  out  and  "ten  years"  substituted,  with  authority  in 
the  President  to  continue  the  annuities  for  a  period  of  five  years 
longer,  if  he  saw  fit. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  boundaries  of  the  Cheyenne  and 
Arapahoe  land,  as  fixed  by  this  treaty,  include  the  larger  portion 
of  the  Territory  of  Colorado  and  most  of  the  western  part  of 
Kansas. 

Some  years  after  this  gold  and  silver  were  discovered  in  the 
mountains  of  Colorado,  and  thousands  of  fortune-seekers,  who 
possessed  nothing  more  than  the  right  of  transit  over  these  lands, 
took  possession  of  them  for  the  purpose  of  mining,  and,  against 
the  protests  of  the  Indians,  founded  cities,  established  farms  and 
opened  roads.  Before  1861  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  had  been 
driven  from  the  mountain  regions  down  upon  the  waters  of  the 
Arkansas,  and  were  becoming  sullen  and  discontented  because  of 
this  violation  of  their  rights.  The  third  article  of  the  treaty  of 
1851  contained  the  following  language  :  "The  United  States  bind 
themselves  to  protect  the  aforesaid  Indian  nations  against  the 


90 

commission  of  all  depredations  by  the  people  of  the  United  States 
after  the  ratification  of  this  treaty."  The  Indians,  however  igno 
rant,  did  not  believe  that  the  obligations  of  this  treaty  had  been 
complied  with. 

If  the  lands  of  the  white  man  are  taken,  civilization  justifies  him 
in  resisting  the  invader.  Civilization  does  more  than  this ;  it 
brands  him  as  a  coward  and  a  slave  if  he  submits  to  the  wrong. 
Here  civilization  made  its  contract  and  guaranteed  the  rights  of 
the  weaker  party.  It  did  not  stand  by  the  guarantee.  The  treaty 
was  broken,  but  not  by  the  savage.  If  the  savage  resists,  civiliza 
tion,  with  the  ten  commandments  in  one  hand  and  the  swoid  in 
the  other,  demands  his  immediate  extermination. 

We  do  not  contest  the  ever  ready  argument  that  civilization 
must  not  be  arrested  in  its  progress  by  a  handful  of  savages.  We 
earnestly  desire  the  speedy  settlement  of  all  our  Territories.  None 
are  more  anxious  than  we  to  see  their  agricultural  and  mineral 
wealth  developed  by  an  industrious,  thrifty  and  enlightened  popu 
lation.  And  we  fully  recognize  the  fact  that  the  Indian  must  not 
stand  in  the  way  of  this  result.  We  would  only  be  understood  as 
doubting  the  purity  and  genuineness  of  that  civilization  which 
reaches  its  ends  by  falsehood  and  violence,  and  dispenses  blessings 
that  spring  from  violated  rights. 

These  Indians  saw  their  former  homes  and  hunting  grounds 
overrun  by  a  greedy  population,  thirsting  for  gold.  They  saw 
their  game  driven  east  to  the  plains,  and  soon  found  themselves 
the  objects  of  jealousy  and  hatred.  They  too  must  go.  The 
presence  of  the  injured  is  too  often  painful  to  the  wrong-doer,  and 
innocence  offensive  to  the  eyes  of  guilt.  It  now  became  apparent 
that  what  had  been  taken  by  force  must  be  retained  by  the  ravisher, 
and  nothing  was  left  for  the  Indian  but  to  ratify  a  treaty  conse 
crating  the  act. 

On  the  18th  day  of  February,  1861,  this  was  done  at  Fort  Wise, 
in  Kansas.  .These  tribes  ceded  their  magnificent  possessions, 
enough  to  constitute  two  great  States  of  the  Union,  retaining  only 
a  small  district  for  themselves,  "  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Sandy  fork  of  the  Arkansas  river  and  extending  westwardly  along 
said  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Purgatory  river ;  thence  along  up 
the  west  bank  of  the  Purgatory  river  to  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  Territory  of  New  Mexico  ;  thenco  west  along  said  boundary  to 
a  point  where  a  line  drawn  due  south  from  a  point  on  the  Arkansas 


100 

river  five  miles  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Huerfando  river  would 
intersect  said  northern  boundary  of  New  Mexico ;  thence  due  north 
from  that  point  on  said  boundary  to  the  Sandy  fork  to  the  place 
of  beginning."  By  examining  the  map,  it  will  be  seen  that  this 
reservation  lies  on  both  sides  of  the  Arkansas  river,  and  includes 
the  country  around  Fort  Lyon.  In  consideration  of  this  conces 
sion,  the  United  States  entered  into  new  obligations.  Not  being 
able  to  protect  them  in  the  larger  reservation,  the  nation  re-re 
solved  that  it  would  protect  them  "in  the  quiet  and  peaceable  pos 
session"  of  the  smaller  tract.  Second,  "to  pay  each  tribe  thirty 
thousand  dollars  per  annum  for  fifteen  years;"  and  third,  that 
houses  should  be  built,  lands  broken  up  and  fenced,  and  stock 
animals  and  agricultural  implements  furnished.  In  addition  to 
this,  mills  were  to  be  built,  and  engineers,  farmers  and  mechanics 
sent  amongst  them.  Those  obligations,  like  the  obligations  of 
1851,  furnished  glittering  evidences  of  humanity  to  the  reader  of 
the  treaty.  Unfortunately,  the  evidence  stops  at  that  point. 

In  considering  this  treaty,  it  will  occur  to  the  reader  that  the 
eleventh  article  demonstrates  the  amicable  relations  between  the 
Indians  and  their  white  friends  up  to  that  time.  It  provides  as 
follows  :  "In  consideration  of  the  kind  treatment  of  the  Arapahoes 
and  Cheyennes  by  the  citizens  of  Denver  City  and  the  adjacent 
towns,  they  respectfully  request  that  the  proprietors  of  said  city 
and  adjacent  towns  be  permitted  by  the  United  States  Government 
to  enter  a  sufficient  quantity  of  land  to  include  said  city  and  towns 
at  the  minimum  price  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per 
acre." 

Large  and  nourishing  cities  had  been  built  on  the  Indian  lands, 
in  open  violation  of  our  treaty.  Town  lots  were  being  sold,  not  by 
the  acre,  but  by  the  front  foot.  Rich  mines  had  been  opened  in 
the  mountains,  and  through  the  streets  of  these  young  cities 
poured  the  streams  of  golden  wealth.  This  had  once  been  Indian 
property.  If  the  white  man  in  taking  it  was  "kind"  to  the 
savage,  this  at  least  carried  with  it  some  honor,  and  deserves  to  be 
remembered.  By  some  it  may  be  thought  that  a  more  substantial 
return  might  well  have  been  made.  By  others  it  may  be  imagined 
that  the  property  of  the  Indians  and  the  amiable  courtesies  of  the 
whites  were  just  equivalents.  But  "kind  treatment"  here  was 
estimated  at  more  than  the  Indians  could  give.  It  was  thought  to 
deserve  something  additional  at  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and 


101 

the  sites  of  cities  at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre  was  perhaps 
as  reasonable  as  could  be  expected.  If  the  absolute  donation  of 
cities  already  built  would  secure  justice,  much  less  kindness  to  the 
red  man,  the  Government  could  make  the  gift  and  save  its  millions 
of  treasure. 

When  the  treaty  came  to  the  Senate,  the  lltli  article  was  stricken 
out,  but  it  would  be  unjust  to  suppose  that  this  action  was  permit 
ted  to  influence  in  the  least  future  treatment  by  the  whites.  From 
this  time  until  the  12th  of  April,  1864,  these  Indians  were  con 
fessedly  at  peace.  On  that  day  a  man  by  the  name  of  Ripley,  a 
ranchman,  came  into  camp  Sanborn,  on  the  south  Platte,  and 
stated  that  the  Indians  had  taken  his  stock  ;  lie  did  not  know  what 
tribe.  He  asked  and  obtained  of  Captain  Sanborn,  the  commander 
of  the  post,  troops  for  the  purpose  of  pursuit.  Lieutenant  Dunn, 
with  forty  men,  was  put  under  the  guide  of  this  man  Ripley,  with 
instructions  to  disarm  the  Indians  found  in  possession  of  Ripley 's 
stock.  Who  or  what  Ripley  was  we  know  not.  That  he  owned 
stock  we  have  his  own  word,  the  word  of  no  one  else.  During  tho 
day  Indians  were  found.  Ripley  claimed  some  of  the  horses. 
Lieutenant  Dunn  ordered  the  soldiers  to  stop  the  herd,  and  or 
dered  the  Indians  to  come  forward  and  talk  with  him.  Several  of 
them  rode  forward,  and  when  within  six  or  eight  feet,  Dunn  or 
dered  his  men  to  dismount  and  disarm  the  Indians.  The  Indians 
of  course  resisted,  and  a  fight  ensued.  What  Indians  they  were 
he  knew  not ;  from  bows  and  arrows  found,  he  judged  them  to  be 
Chcyennes.  Dunn  getting  the  worst  of  the  fight,  returned  to 
camp,  obtained  a  guide  and  a  remount  and  next  morning  started 
again.  In  May  following,  Major  Downing,  of  the  first  Colorado 
cavalry,  went  to  Denver  and  asked  Colonel  Chivington  to  give  him 
a  force  to  move  against  the  Indians.  For  what  purpose  we  do  not 
know.  Chivington  gave  him  the  men,  and  the  following  are 
Downing' s  own  words  :  "I  captured  an  Indian  and  required  him 
to  go  to  the  village  or  I  would  kill  him.  This  was  about  the  mid 
dle  of  May.  We  started  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  day,  travelled 
all  day  and  all  that  night ;  about  daylight  I  succeeded  in  surprising 
the  Cheyenne  village  of  Cedar  Bluffs,  in  a  small  canon  about  sixty 
miles  north  of  the  South  Platte  river.  We  commenced  shooting . 
I  ordered  the  men  to  commence  killing  them.  They  lost,  as  I  am 
informed,  some  twenty-six  killed  and  thirty  wounded.  My  own 
loss  was  one  killed  and  one  wounded.  I  burnt  up  their  lodges  and 


102 

everything  I  could  get  hold  of.     I  took  no  prisoners.      We  got  out 
of  ammunition  and  could  not  pursue  them." 

In  this  camp  the  Indians  had  their  women  and  children.  He 
captured  a  hundred  ponies  which,  the  officer  says,  "were  dis 
tributed  among  the  boys,  for  the  reason  that  they  had  been  march 
ing  almost  constantly  day  and  night  for  nearly  three  weeks." 
This  was  done  because  such  conduct  "was  usual,"  he  said,  "in 
New  Mexico."  About  the  same  time,  Lieutenant  Ayres,  of  the 
Colorado  troops,  had  a  difficulty,  in  which  an  Indian  chief  under  a 
flag  of  truce  was  murdered.  During  the  summer  and  fall  occur 
rences  of  this  character  were  frequent.  Some  time  during  the  fall, 
Black  Kettle  and  other  prominent  chiefs  of  the  Cheycnncs  and 
Arapahoe  nations  sent  word  to  the  commander  at  Fort  Lyon  that 
the  war  had  been  forced  upon  them  and  they  desired  peace.  They 
were  then  upon  their  own  reservation.  The  officer  in  command, 
Major  E.  AY.  AYynkoop,  first  Colorado  cavalry,  did  not  feel  au 
thorized  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  them,  but  gave  them  a  pledge 
of  military  protection  until  an  interview  could  be  procured  with 
the  Governor  of  Colorado,  who  was  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs.  He  then  proceeded  to  Denver  with  seven  of  the  leading 
chiefs  to  see  the  Governor.  Colonel  Chivington  was  present  at  the 
interview.  Major  Wynkoop,  in  his  sworn  testimony  before  a  pre 
vious  commission,  thus  relates  the  action  of  the  Governor,  when 
he  communicated  the  presence  of  the  chiefs  seeking  peace  :  "He 
(the  Governor)  intimated  that  he  was  sorry  I  had  brought  them  ; 
that  he  considered  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  them,  that  they  had 
declared  war  against  the  United  States,  and  he  considered  them  in 
the  hands  of  the  military  authorities  ;  that  he  did  not  think  any 
how  it  was  policy  to  make  peace  with  them  until  they  were  pro 
perly  punished,  for  the  reason  that  the  United  States  would  be 
acknowledging  themselves  whipped."  AVynkoop  further  states 
that  the  Governor  said  the  third  regiment  of  Colorado  troops  had 
been  raised,  on  his  representations  at  Washington,  to  kill  Indians, 
and  Indians  they  must  kill."  Wynkoop  then  ordered  the  Indians 
to  move  their  villages  nearer  to  the  fort,  and  bring  their  women 
and  children,  which  was  done.  In  November  this  officer  was  re 
moved,  and  Major  Anthony,  of  the  first  Colorado  cavalry,  ordered 
to  take  command  of  the  fort.  He  too  assured  the  Indians  of  safety. 
They  numbered  about  five  hundred,  men,  women  and  children.  It 
was  here,  under  the  pledge  of  protection,  that  they  were  slaugh- 


103 

tered  by  the  third  Colorado  and  a  battallion  of  the  first  Colorado 
cavalry  under  command  of  Colonel  Chivington.  He  marched  from 
Denver  to  Fort  Lyon,  and  about  daylight  in  the  morning  of  the 
29th  of  November,  surrounded  the  Indian  camp  and  commenced 
an  indiscriminate  slaughter.  The  particulars  of  this  massacre  are 
too  well  known  to  be  repeated  here  with  all  its  heart-rending 
scenes.  It  is  enough  to  say,  that  it  scarcely  has  its  parallel  in  the 
records  of  Indian  barbarity.  Fleeing  women  holding  up  their 
hands  and  praying  for  mercy  were  brutally  shot  down  ;  infants 
were  killed  and  scalped  in  derision,  men  were  tortured  and  muti 
lated  in  a  manner  that  would  put  to  shame  the  savage  ingenuity 
of  interior  Africa. 

No  one  will  be  astonished  that  a  war  ensued  which  cost  the 
Government  thirty  million  dollars,  and  carried  conflagration  and 
death  to  the  border  settlements.  During  the  spring  and  summer 
of  1865  no  less  than  eight  thousand  troops  were  withdrawn  from 
the  effective  force  engaged  in  suppressing  the  rebellion  to  meet  this 
Indian  war.  The  result  of  the  year's  campaign  satisfied  all  sensi 
ble  men  that  war  with  Indians  was  both  useless  and  expensive. 
Fifteen  or  twenty  Indians  had  been  killed,  at  an  expense  of  more 
than  a  million  dollars  apiece,  while  hundreds  of  our  soldiers  had 
lost  their  lives,  many  of  our  border  settlers  been  butchered,  and 
much  property  destroyed.  To  those  who  reflected  on  the  subject, 
knowing  the  facts,  the  war  was  something  more  than  useless  and 
expensive  :  it  was  dishonorable  to  the  nation,  and  disgraceful  to 
those  who  had  originated  it. 

When  the  utter  futility  of  conquering  a  peace  was  made  manifest 
to  every  one,  and  the  true  causes  of  the  war  began  to  be  developed, 
the  country  demanded  that  peaceful  agencies  should  be  resorted 
to.  Generals  liarney,  Sanborn  and  others  were  selected  as  com 
missioners  to  procure  a  council  of  the  hostile  tribes,  and  in  Octo 
ber,  1805,  they  succeeded  in  doing  so  at  the 'mouth  of  the  Little 
Arkansas.  At  this  council  the  Cheyenncs  and  Arapahocs  were 
induced  to  relinquish  their  reservation  on  the  upper  Arkansas  and 
accept  a  reservation  partly  in  southern  Kansas  and  partly  in  the 
Indian  territory,  lying  immediately  south  of  Forts  Lamed  and 
Zarah.  The  object  was  to  remove  them  from  the  vicinity  of 
Colorado. 

By  the  third  article  of  the  treaty  it  was  agreed  that  until  the 
Indians  were  removed  to  their  new  reservation,  they  were  ' '  ex- 


104 

pressly  permitted  to  reside  upon  and  range  at  pleasure  throughout 
the  unsettled  portions  of  that  part  of  the  country  they  claim  as 
originally  theirs,  which  lies  between  the  Arkansas  and  Platte 
rivers."  This  hunting  ground  reserved  is  the  same  which  is 
described  in  the  treaty  of  1851,  and  on  which  they  yet  claim  the 
right  to  hunt  as  long  as  the  game  shall  last.  When  this  treaty 
came  to  the  Senate  for  ratification  it  was  so  amended  as  to  require 
the  President  to  designate  for  said  tribes  a  reservation  outside  of 
the  State  of  Kansas,  and  not  within  any  Indian  reservation  except 
upon  consent  of  the  tribe  interested.  As  the  reservation  fixed  was 
entirely  within  the  State  of  Kansas  and  the  Cherokee  country,  this 
provision  deprived  them  of  any  home  at  all,  except  the  hunting 
privilege  reserved  by  the  treaty.  This  statement,  if  not  illustrative 
of  the  manner  in  which  Indian  rights  are  secured  by  our  legis 
lators,  may  at  least  call  for  greater  vigilance  in  the  future.  Agree 
ments  at  the  same  time  were  made  with  the  Kiowas,  Comanches, 
and  Apaches. 

So  soon  as  these  treaties  were  signed,  the  war  which  had  been 
waged  for  nearly  two  years  instantly  ceased.  Travel  was  again 
secure  on  the  plains.  What  eight  thousand  troops  had  failed  to 
give,  this  simple  agreement,  rendered  nugatory  by  the  Senate,  and 
bearing  nothing  but  a  pledge  of  friendship,  obtained.  During  the 
summer,  fall  and  winter  of  18GG  comparative  peace  prevailed. 
General  Sherman,  during  this  time,  travelled  without  escort  to  the 
most  distant  posts  of  his  command,  and  yet  with  a  feeling  of  perfect 
security. 

To  say  that  no  outrages  were  committed  by  the  Indians  would 
be  claiming  for  them  more  than  can  be  justly  claimed  for  the  most 
moral  and  religious  communities.  Many  bad  men  are  found 
among  the  whites ;  they  commit  outrages  despite  all  social  re 
straints;  they  frequently,  too,  escape  punishment.  Is  it  to  be 
wronderecl  at  that  Indians  are  110  better  than  we  ?  Let  us  go  to  our 
best  cities,  where  churches  and  school-houses  adorn  every  square, 
yet  unfortunately  we  must  keep  a  policeman  at  every  corner,  and 
scarcely  a  night  passes  but,  in  spite  of  refinement,  religion  and 
law,  crime  is  committed.  How  often,  too,  is  it  found  impossible 
to  discover  the  criminal !  If,  in  consequence  of  these  things,  war 
should  be  waged  against  these  cities,  they  too  would  have  to  share 
the  fate  of  Indian  villages. 

The  Sioux  war  on  iho  Powder  river,  to  which  we  shall  hereafter 


105 

allude,  commenced  in  July,  18G6.  When  it  commenced  General 
St.  George  Cook,  in  command  at  Omaha,  forbade  within  the  limits 
of  his  command  the  sale  of  arms  and  ammunition  to  Indians.  The 
mere  existence  of  an  Indian  war  on  the  north  Platte  aroused  ap 
prehensions  of  danger  on  the  Arkansas.  The  Cheyennes  of  the 
north  and  south  are  related,  and  though  living  far  apart,  they  fre 
quently  visit  each  other.  Many  of  the  northern  Sioux  desiring  to 
be  peaceable,  (as  they  allege,)  on  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  in 
the  north,  came  south,  some  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Republican  and 
others  as  far  south  as  Fort  Lamed.  Their  appearance  here  excited 
more  or  less  fear  among  the  traders  and  freighters  on  the  plains. 
These  fears  extended  to  the  settlements,  from  which  they  were 
reflected  back  to  the  military  posts.  The  commanders  became 
jealous  and  watchful.  Trifles,  which  under  ordinary  circumstances 
would  have  passed  unnoticed,  were  received  as  conclusive  of  the 
hostile  purposes  of  these  tribes.  Finally,  in  December,  Fetter- 
man's  party  were  killed  at  Fort  Phil.  Kearney,  and  the  whole 
country  became  thrilled  with  horror.  It  is  thus  that  the  Indian  in 
war  loses  the  sympathy  of  mankind.  That  he  goes  to  war  is  not 
astonishing ;  he  is  often  compelled  to  do  so.  Wrongs  arc  borne 
by  him  in  silence  that  never  fail  to  drive  civilized  men  to  deeds  of 
violence.  When  he  is  your  friend  he  will  sometimes  sacrifice  him 
self  in  your  defence.  When  he  is  your  enemy  he  pushes  his  enmity 
to  the  excesses  of  barbarity.  This  shocks  the  moral  sense  and 
leaves  him  without  defenders. 

When  the  news  of  this  terrible  calamity  reached  the  Arkansas 
posts,  the  traders  here  too  were  prohibited  from  selling  the  Indians 
arms.  Major  Douglas,  of  the  third  infantry,  as  early  as  the  13th 
of  January,  1867,  communicated  his  fears  to  Major  General  Han 
cock.  He  pointed  to  no  single  act  of  hostility,  but  gave  the  state 
ment  of  Kicking  Bird,  a  rival  chief  of  Satanta  among  the  Kiowas, 
that  Satanta  talked  of  war  and  said  he  would  commence  when 
the  grass  grew  in  the  spring. 

On  the  16th  of  February  Captain  Smith  of  the  nineteenth  in 
fantry,  in  command  of  Fort  Arbuckle,  reports  to  General  Ord  at 
Little  Rock,  which  is  at  once  forwarded  to  the  department  of  the 
Missouri,  that  a  negro  child  and  some  stock  had  been  taken  off  by 
Indians  before  he  took  command.  His  informant  was  one  Jones, 
an  interpreter.  In  this  letter  he  uses  the  following  significant 
language:  "  I  have  the  honor  to  state  further  that  several  other 


10G 

tribes  than  the  Comanches  have  lately  been  noticed  on  the  war 
path,  having  been  seen  in  their  progress  in  unusual  numbers  raid 
without  their  squaws  and  children,  a  fact  to  which  much  signifi 
cance  is  attached  by  those  conversant  with  Indian  usages.  It  is 
thought  by  many  white  residents  of  the  Territory  that  some  of 
these  tribes  may  be  acting  in  concert,  and  that  plundering  incur 
sions  are  at  least  in  contemplation." 

After  enumerating  other  reports  of  wrongs,  (coming  perhaps 
from  Jones,)  and  drawing  inferences  therefrom,  he  closes  by  say 
ing  that  he  has  deferred  to  the  views  of  white  persons,  who,  from 
long  residence  among  the  Indians,  "  are  competent  to  advise  him," 
and  that  his  communication  "is  more  particularly  the  embodiment 
of  their  views."  As  it  embodied  the  views  of  others,  it  may  not 
be  surprising  that  a  rc-inforcement  of  ten  additional  companies 
was  asked  for  his  post. 

Captain  Asbury.  at  Fort  Larnccl,  also  reported  that  a  small  party 
of  Chcycnncs  had  compelled  a  ranchman  named  Parker,  near  that 
post,  to  cook  supper  for  them,  and  threatened  to  kill  him  because 
lie  had  no  sugar.  He  escaped,  however,  to  tell  the  talc.  Finally, 
on  the  9th  of  February,  one  F.  F.  Jones,  a  Kiowa  interpreter,  files 
with  Major  Douglas,  at  Fort  Dodge,  an  affidavit  that  he  had  re 
cently  visited  the  Kiowa  camp  in  company  with  Major  Page  and 
John  E.  Tappaii  on  a  trading  expedition.  That  the  Indians  took 
from  them  Hour,  sugar,  rice  and  apples.  That  they  threatened  to 
shoot  Major  Page  because  he  was  a  soldier,  and  tried  to  kill  Tap- 
pan.  That  they  shot  at  him  (Jones)  and  missed  him,  (which,  in 
the  sequel,  may  be  regarded  as  a  great  misfortune.)  Restated 
that  the  Indians  took  their  mules,  and  that  Satanta  requested  him 
to  say  to  Major  Douglas  that  he  demanded  the  troops  and  military 
posts  should  at  once  be  removed  from  the  country,  and  also  that 
the  railroads  and  mail-stages  must  be  immediately  stopped.  Sa 
tanta  requested  him  to  tell  Douglas  that  his  own  stock  was  getting 
poor,  and  hoped  the  government  stock  at  the  post  would  be  well 
fed,  as  he  would  be  over  in  a  few  days  to  get  it.  But  the  most 
startling  of  all  the  statements  communicated  by  Jones  on  this  occa 
sion,  was  that  a  war  party  came  in,  while  he  was  at  the  camp, 
bringing  with  them  two  hundred  horses  and  the  scalps  of  seven 
teen  negro  soldiers  and  one  white  man.  This  important  informa 
tion  was  promptly  despatched  to  General  Hancock,  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  and  a  short  time  thereafter  he  commenced  to  organize  the 


107 

expedition  which  subsequently  marched  to  Pawnee  Fork  and 
burned  the  Cheyenne  village. 

On  the  11  th  of  March  following,  General  Hancock  addressed  a 
letter  to  Wyiikoop,  the  agent  of  the  Clieyeimcs  and  Arapahocs, 
that  "he  had  about  completed  arrangements  for  moving  a  force  to 
the  plains."  He  stated  that  his  object  was  to  show  the  Indians 
that  he  was  "  able  to  chastise  any  tribes  who  may  molest  people 
travelling  across  the  plains."  Against  the  Cheyennes  he  com 
plained,  first,  that  they  had  not  delivered  the  Indian  who  killed  a 
New  Mexican  at  Fort  Zarah,  and,  second,  he  believed  he  had  "evi 
dence  sufficient  to  fix  upon  the  different  bands  of  that  tribe,  whose 
chiefs  are  known,  several  of  the  outrages  committed  on  Smoky  Hill 
last  summer.  He  requested  the  agent  to  tell  them  he  came  "  pre 
pared  for  peace  or  war,"  and  that  hereafter  he  would  "insist  upon 
their  keeping  off  the  main  lines  of  travel,  where  their  presence  is 
calculated  to  bring  about  collisions  with  the  whites."  This  it  will 
be  remembered  was  their  hunting  ground,  secured  by  treaty.  On 
the  same  day  he  forwarded  a  similar  communication  to  J.  II.  Leaven- 
worth,  agent  for  the  Kiowas  and  Comanches.  The  complaints  he 
alleges  against  them  are  precisely  the  same  contained  in  the  affi 
davit  and  statement  of  Jones  and  the  letter  of  Captain  Asbury. 

The  expedition  left  Fort  Lamed  on  the  13th  of  April,  and  pro 
ceeded  up  the  Pawnee  fork  of  the  Arkansas,  in  the  direction  of  a 
village  of  a  thousand  or  fifteen  hundred  Cheyennes  and  Sioux. 
When  he  came  near  their  camp  the  chiefs  visited  him,  as  they  had 
already  done  at  Lamed,  and  requested  him  not  to  approach  the 
camp  with  his  troops,  for  the  women  and  children,  having  the  re 
membrance  of  Sand  Creek,  would  certainly  abandon  the  village. 
On  the  14th  he  resumed  his  march,  with  cavalry,  infantry,  and 
artillery,  and,  when  about  ten  miles  from  their  village,  he  was 
again  met  by  the  headmen,  who  stated  that  they  would  treat  with 
him  there  or  elsewhere,  but  they  could  not,  as  requested  by  him.  keep 
their  women  and  children  in  camp  if  he  approached  with  soldiers. 
He  informed  them  that  he  would  march  up  to  within  a  mile  of  the 
village,  and  treat  with  them  that  evening.  As  he  proceeded  the 
women  fled,  leaving  the  village,  with  all  their  property.  The 
chiefs  and  a  part  of  the  young  men  remained.  To  some  of  these, 
visiting  the  camp  of  General  Hancock,  horses  were  furnished  to 
bring  back  the  women.  The  horses  were  returned,  with  word  that 
the  women  and  children  could  not  be  collected.  It  was  then  night. 


108 

Orders  were  then  given  to  surround  the  village  and  capture  the 
Indians  remaining.  The  order  was  obeyed,  but  the  chiefs  and 
warriors  had  departed.  The  only  persons  found  were  an  old  Sioux 
and  an  idiotic  girl  of  eight  or  nine  years  of  age.  It  afterwards  ap 
peared  that  the  person  of  this  girl  had  been  violated,  from  which 
she  soon  died.  The  Indians  were  gone,  and  the  report  spread  that 
she  had  been  a  captive  among  them,  and  they  had  committed  this 
outrage  before  leaving.  The  Indians  say  that  she  was  an  idiotic 
Cheyenne  girl,  forgotten  in  the  confusion  of  flight — and  if  violated, 
it  was  not  by  them. 

The  next  morning  General  Custcr,  under  orders,  started  in  pur 
suit  of  the  Indians  with  his  cavalry,  and  performed  a  campaign  of 
great  labor  and  suffering,  passing  over  a  vast  extent  of  country, 
but  seeing  no  hostile  Indians.  When  the  fleeing  Indians  reached 
the  Smoky  Hill  they  destroyed  a  station  and  killed  several  men. 
A  courier  having  brought  this  intelligence  to  General  Hancock,  he 
at  once  ordered  the  Indian  village,  of  about  three  hundred  lodges, 
together  with  the  entire  property  of  the  tribes,  to  be  burned. 

The  Indian  now  became  an  outlaw — not  only  the  Chcyenncs  and 
Sioux,  but  all  the  tribes  on  the  plains.  The  superintendent  of  an 
express  company,  Cottrell,  issued  a  circular  order  to  the  agents 
and  employes  of  the  company  in  the  following  language:  "You 
will  hold  no  communications  with  Indians  whatever.  If  In 
dians  come  within  shooting  distance,  shoot  them.  Show  them  no 
mercy,  for  they  will  show  you  none."  This  was  in  the  Indian 
country.  He  closes  by  saying :  "  General  Hancock  will  protect  you 
and  our  property." 

Whether  war  existed  previous  to  that  time  seems  to  have  been  a 
matter  of  doubt  even  with  General  Hancock  himself.  From  that 
day  forward  no  doubt  on  the  subject  was  entertained  by  anybody. 
The  Indians  were  then  fully  aroused,  and  no  more  determined  war 
has  ever  been  waged  by  them.  The  evidence  taken  tends  to  show  that 
we  have  lost  many  soldiers,  besides  a  large  number  of  settlers,  on 
the  frontier.  The  most  valuable  trains  belonging  to  individuals, 
as  well  as  to  government,  among  which  was  a  government  train  of 
ammunition,  were  captured  by  these  wild  horsemen.  Stations  were 
destroyed.  Hundreds  of  horses  and  mules  were  taken,  and  found 
in  their  possession  when  we  met  them  in  council ;  while  we  are 
forced  to  believe  that  their  entire  loss  since  the  burning  of  their 
village  consists  of  six  men.  killed. 


109 

The  Kiowas  and  Comanclies,  it  will  be  seen,  deny  the  statement 
of  Jones  in  every  particular.  They  say  that  110  war  party  came  in 
at  the  time  stated,  or  at  any  other  time,  after  the  treaty  of  1865. 
They  deny  that  they  killed  any  negro  soldiers,  and  positively  as 
sert  that  no  Indian  was  ever  known  to  scalp  a  negro.  In  the  latter 
statement  they  are  corroborated  by  all  the  tribes  and  by  persons 
who  know  their  habits  ;  and  the  records  of  the  Adjutant  General's 
office  fail  to  show  the  loss  of  the  seventeen  negro  soldiers  or  any 
soldiers  at  all.  They  deny  having  robbed  Jones,  or  insulted  Page 
or  Tappan.  Tappan's  testimony  was  taken,  in  which  he  brands 
the  whole  statement  of  Jones  as  false,  and  declares  that  both  he 
and  Page  so  informed  Major  Douglas  within  a  few  days  after  Jones 
made  his  affidavit.  We  took  the  testimony  of  Major  Douglas,  in 
which  he  admits  the  correctness  of  Tappan's  statement,  but,  for 
some  reason  unexplained,  he  failed  to  communicate  the  correction 
to  General  Hancock.  The  threats  to  take  the  horses  and  attack 
the  posts  on  the  Arkansas  were  made  in  a  vein  of  jocular  bravado, 
and  not  understood  by  any  one  present  at  the  time  to  possess  the 
least  importance.  The  case  of  the  Box  family  has  already  been 
explained,  and  this  completes  the  case  against  the  Kiowas  and 
Comanches,  who  are  exculpated  by  the  united  testimony  of  all  the 
tribes  from  any  share  in  the  late  troubles. 

The  Chcyennes  admit  that  one  of  their  young  men  in  a  private 
quarrel,  both  parties  being  drunk,  killed  a  New  Mexican  at  Fort 
Zarah.  Such  occurrences  are  so  freouent  among  the  whites  on  the 
plains  that  ignorant  Indians  might  be  pardoned  for  participating, 
if  it  be  done  merely  to  evidence  their  advance  in  civilization.  The 
Indians  claim  that  the  Spaniard  was  in  fault,  and  further  protest 
that  no  demand  was  ever  made  for  the  delivery  of  the  Indian. 

The  Arapahoes  admit  that  a  party  of  their  young  men,  with 
throe  young  warriors  of  the  Cheyenncs,  returning  from  an  excur 
sion  against  the  Utes,  attacked  the  train  of  Mr.  Wcddell,  of  New 
Mexico,  during  the  month  of  March,  and  they  were  gathering  up 
the  stock  when  the  war  commenced. 

Though  this  recital  should  prove  tedious,  it  was  thought  neces 
sary  to  guard  the  future  against  the  errors  of  the  past.  We  would 
not  blunt  the  vigilance  of  military  men  in  the  Indian  country,  but 
we  would  warn  them  against  the  acts  of  the  selfish  and  unprinci 
pled,  who  need  to  be  watched  as  well  as  the  Indian.  The  origin 


110 

and  progress  of  this  war  arc  repeated  in  nearly  all  Indian  wars. 
The  history  of  one  \vill  suffice  for  many. 

Nor  would  we  be  understood  as  conveying  a  censure  of  General 
Hancock  for  organizing  this  expedition.  He  had  just  come  to  the 
department,  and  circumstances  were  ingeniously  woven  to  deceive 
him.  His  distinguished  services  in  another  field  of  patriotic  duty 
had  left  him  but  little  time  to  become  acquainted  with  the  remote 
or  immediate  causes  producing  these  troubles.  If  he  erred,  he 
can  very  well  roll  a  part  of  the  responsibility  on  others  ;  not  alone 
on  subordinate  commanders,  who  were  themselves  deceived  by 
others,  but  on  those  who  were  able  to  guard  against  the  error,  and 
yet  failed  to  do  it.  We  have  hundreds  of  treaties  with  the  Indians, 
and  military  posts  are  situated  everywhere  on  their  reservations. 
Since  1837  these  treaties  have  not  been  compiled,  and  no  provision 
is  made,  when  a  treaty  is  proclaimed,  to  furnish  it  to  the  com 
manders  of  posts,  departments  or  divisions.  This  is  the  fault  of 
Congress. 

As  early  as  November,  1866,  and  long  before  the  late  war  com 
menced,  Lieutenant  General  Sherman,  in  his  annual  report  to 
General  Grant,  indicated  an  Indian  policy  for  the  plains.  He  pro 
posed,  with  the  consent  of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  to  restrict  the  Sioux  north  of  the  Platte,  and  east 
and  west  of  certain  lines,  and  "to  deal  summarily"  with  all  found 
outside  of  those  lines  without  a  military  pass.  He  then  proceeds 
to  say,  '"in  like  manner  I  would  restrict  the  Arapahoes,  Che- 
yennes,  Comanches,  Kiowas,  Apaches,  and  Navajoes,  south  of  the 
Arkansas  and  east  of  Fort  Union.  This  will  leave  for  our  people 
exclusively  the  use  of  the  wide  belt  east  and  west,  between  the 
Platte  and  the  Arkansas,  in  which  lie  the  two  great  railroads  over 
which  passes  the  bulk  of  the  travel  to  the  mountain  territories." 
He  further  says:  "I  beg  you  will  submit  this  proposition  to  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  that  we  may  know  we  do  not 
violate  some  one  of  the  solemn  treaties  made  with  these  Indians, 
who  are  very  captious  and  claim  to  the  very  letter  the  execution  on 
our  part  of  those  treaties,  the  obligations  of  which  they  seem  to 
comprehend  perfectly."  On  the  loth  of  January  this  suggestion 
was  communicated  by  General  Grant  to  the  Secretary  of  War  with 
the  following  remarks:  "I  approve  this  proposition  of  General 
Sherman,  provided  it  does  not  conflict  with  our  treaty  obligations 
with  the  Indians  now  between  the  Platte  and  Arkansas." 


Ill 

We  have  already  shown  that  such  a  proposition  was  directly  in 
the  face  of  our  treaty  with  the  Chcycnncs,  Arapahocs  and  Apaches. 
It  is  true,  that  a  communication  of  the  then  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  on  the  subject  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  dated 
January  15,  18G7,  was  forwarded  to  the  Senate  and  published  by 
that  body  ;  but  if  any  response  was  ever  sent  to  General  Sherman, 
informing  him  of  existing  treaty  rights,  we  are  not  advised  of  it. 
Here,  then,  the  responsibility  attaches  to  the  cabinet.  A  question 
of  such  vital  importance  should  have  been  examined,  and  a  prompt 
answer  communicated  to  the  officer  asking  the  information.  When 
officers  arc  thus  left  to  move  in  the  dark,  blunders  arc  not  theirs 
alone. 

A  few  words  only  can  be  given  to  the  origin  of  the  Powder  River 
•war.  This  is  partly  in  the  country  conceded  to  the  Crows  and 
partly  in  that  conceded  to  the  Sioux  by  the  treaty  of  1851.  Tho 
Sioux  have  gradually  driven  the  Crows  back  upon  the  headwaters 
of  the  Yellowstone,  in  Montana,  and  claim  as  a  conquest  almost 
the  entire  country  traversed  by  what  is  called  the  Powder  Paver 
route  to  Montana.  It  will  be  recollected  that  the  treaty  of  1851 
ceased  to  be  operative  in  1866.  The  annuities  had  been  dis 
tributed,  or  rather  appropriations  therefor  had  been  made,  for  the 
last  five  years  of  the  term,  under  the  amendment  of  the  Senate 
heretofore  referred  to. 

The  Indians  were  apprised,  of  course,  that  after  that  year  they 
must  look  to  their  own  exertions  for  subsistence.  Since  1851,  they 
had  seen  Colorado  settled  on  the  south, 'and  Montana  rapidly 
filling  up  to  the  north,  leaving  them  no  valuable  hunting-grounds 
of  their  ancient  domain,  except  along  Powder  river  and  other  trib 
utaries  of  the  Yellowstone.  While  the  luxuriant  growth  of  grass 
in  this  region  made  it  desirable  as  an  Indian  hunting-ground,  it  also 
rendered  it  inviting  to  the  gold  hunter,  as  a  route  to  the  new  mines 
of  Montana. 

These  Indians  have  never  founded  the  title  to  their  lands  upon 
the  treaty  of  1851.  They  have  looked  upon  that  treaty  as  a  mere 
acknowledgment  of  a  previously  existing  right  in  themselves.  The 
assignment  of  boundaries,  they  supposed,  was  merely  to  fix  rights 
among  the  tribes — to  make  certain  what  -was  uncertain  before.  It 
is  true,  that  by  said  treaty  they  " recognized"  the  right  of  the 
United  States  to  establish  roads  and  military  posts.  But  it  is 
equally  true,  that  in  lieu  of  this  privilege  the  United  States  was  to 


112 

pay  them  $~0,000  per  annum  for  fifty  years.  The  Senate  reduced 
the  term  to  ten  years,  and  the  Indians  never  having  ratified  the 
amendment,  they  have  some  right  to  claim,  when  the  annuities  are 
stopped,  at  the  end  of  fifteen  years,  a  release  from  their  obligations 
in  this  behalf. 

The  proper  plan  would  have  been  to  show  some  respect  to  their 
claims — call  them  pretensions,  if  you  please — as  also  some  regard 
for  their  wants,  by  entering  into  new  relations  with  them.  This, 
however,  was  not  done.  The  Indian,  who  had  stood  by  and  seen 
the  stream  of  population  pouring  over  his  lands  to  California, 
Utah,  Oregon,  and  Montana,  for  so  many  years,  began  now,  when 
thrown  back  by  the  Government  upon  his  own  resources,  to  seek 
some  place  where  he  might  be  secure  from  intrusion. 

But  just  at  this  moment,  the  war  of  the  rebellion  being  over, 
thousands  of  our  people  turned  their  faces  toward  the  treasures  of 
Montana.  The  stories  in  regard  to  its  mines  eclipsed  those  fabu 
lous  tales  that  phrenzied  the  Spaniard  in  Mexico.  The  Indian  was 
forgotten.  His  rights  were  lost  sight  of  in  the  general  rush  to 
these  fountains  of  wealth.  It  seemed  not  to  occur  to  any  one  that 
this  poor,  despised  red  man  was  the  original  discoverer,  and  the 
sole  occupant  for  many  centuries,  of  every  mountain  seamed  with 
quartz,  and  of  every  stream  whose  yellow  sands  glistened  in  the 
noonday  sun.  These  mountains  and  streams,  where  gold  is  found, 
had  all  been  taken  from  him.  He  asked  to  retain  only  a  secluded 
spot,  where  the  buffalo  and  the  elk  could  live,  and  that  spot  lie 
would  make  his  home. 

This  could  not  be  granted  him.  It  lay  on  the  route  to  these 
quartz  mountains  and  Pactolian  streams.  The  truth  is,  no  place 
was  left  for  him.  Every  inch  of  the  land  "  belongs  to  the  saints, 
and  we  are  the  saints." 

On  the  10th  of  March,  1860,  General  Pope,  then  commanding 
the  department  of  the  Missouri,  issued  an  order  to  establish  mili 
tary  posts  "near  the  base  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountain,"  and  "on  or 
near  the  upper  Yellowstone,"  on  the  new  route  to  Montana.  On 
the  23d  of  June,  orders  were  issued  from  headquarters,  department 
of  the  Plattc,  directing  a  part  of  the  18th  infantry  to  garrison 
Forts  Reno,  Phil.  Kearney  and  C.  F.  Smith.  Colonel  Carrington 
was  placed  in  command  of  this  new  organization,  called  the 
"mountain  district." 

Phil.    Kearney  was  established  July   15th,    and   C.  F.   Smith 


113 

August  3d.  The  Indians  notified  the  troops  that  the  occupation 
of  their  country  would  be  resisted.  The  warning  was  unheeded. 

An  attempt  was  made  during  that  summer,  by  the  Interior  De 
partment,  to  stop  the  threatened  war  by  negotiation.  The  Indians, 
in  council,  demanded  the  evacuation  of  the  country  before  treat 
ing.  This  could  not  be  granted,  because  the  civil  and  military 
departments  of  our  Government  cannot,  or  will  not,  understand 
each  other.  Some  of  the  chiefs  reluctantly  submitted  and  signed 
the  treaty,  but  Red  Cloud  retired  from  the  council,  placing  his 
hand  upon  his  rifle  and  saying,  "In  this  and  the  Great  Spirit  I 
trust  for  the  right. ' ' 

In  a  few  weeks  the  fires  of  war  blazed  along  the  entire  length  of 
this  new  route.  So  far  from  securing  emigrant  travel  the  forts 
themselves  were  besieged ;  the  mountains  swarmed  with  Indian 
warriors  ;  the  valleys  seemed  to  be  covered  by  them.  Wood  and 
hay  were  only  procured  at  the  end  of  a  battle.  Matters  grew  worse 
until  the  21st  of  December,  when  a  wood  party  being  attacked,  a 
reinforcement  under  Lieutenant- Colonel  Fetterman  was  sent  out, 
and  a  light  ensued  in  which  every  man  of  our  forces  was  killed. 
This  is  called  the  massacre  of  Fort  Phil.  Kearney. 

As  we  have  already  stated,  the  Indians  yet  demand  the  surren 
der  of  this  country  to  them.  But  they  have  agreed  to  suspend 
hostilities  and  meet  commissioners  next  spring  to  treat  of  their 
alleged  rights,  without  insisting  on  the  previous  withdrawal  of  the 
garrisons.  Whether  they  will  then  insist  on  the  abandonment  of 
the  route,  we  cannot  say.  Of  one  thing  we  are  satisfied — that  so 
long  as  the  war  lasts  the  road  is  entirely  useless  to  emigrants.  It 
is  worse  than  that,  it  renders  other  routes  insecure,  and  endangers 
territorial  settlements.  It  is  said  that  a  road  to  Montana,  leaving 
the  Pacific  railroad  further  west  and  passing  down  the  valley  west 
of  the  Big  Horn  mountains,  is  preferable  to  the  present  route. 
The  Indians  present  no  objection  to  such  a  road,  but  assure  us  that 
we  may  travel  it  in  peace. 

If  it  be  said  that  the  savages  are  unreasonable,  we  answer,  that 
if  civilized  they  might  be  reasonable.  At  least  they  would  not  be 
dependent  on  the  buffalo  and  the  elk  ;  they  would  no  longer  want 
a  country  exclusively  for  game,  and  the  presence  of  the  white  man 
would  become  desirable.  If  it  be  said  that  because  they  are 
savages  they  should  be  exterminated,  we  answer  that,  aside  from 
the  humanity  of  the  suggestion,  it  will  prove  exceedingly  difficult, 


114 

and  if  money  considerations  arc  permitted  to  weigh,  it  costs  less  to 
civilize  than  to  kill. 

In  making  treaties  it  was  enjoined  on  us  to  remove,  if  possible, 
the  causes  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  This  would  bo 
no  easy  task.  We  have  done  the  best  we  could  under  the  circum 
stances,  but  it  is  now  rather  late  in  the  day  to  think  of  obliterating 
from  the  minds  of  the  present  generation  the  remembrance  of 
wrong.  Among  civilized  men  war  usually  springs  from  a  sense  of 
injustice.  The  best  possible  way  then  to  avoid  war  is  to  do  no  act 
of  injustice.  When  we  learn  that  the  same  rule  holds  good  with 
Indians,  the  chief  difficulty  is  removed.  But,  it  is  said  our  wars 
with  them  have  been  almost  constant.  Have  we  been  uniformly 
unjust?  We  answer,  unhesitatingly,  yes  !  We  are  aware  that  the 
masses  of  our  people  have  felt  kindly  toward  them,  and  the  legis 
lation  of  Congress  has  always  been  conceived  in  the  best  inten 
tions,  but  it  has  been  erroneous  in  fact  or  perverted  in  execution. 
Nobody  pays  any  attention  to  Indian  matters.  This  is  a  deplora 
ble  fact.  Members  of  Congress  understand  the  negro  question, 
and  talk  learnedly  of  finance,  and  other  problems  of  political 
economy,  but  when  the  progress  of  settlement  reaches  the  Indian's 
home,  the  only  question  considered  is,  "how  best  to  get  his  lands." 
When  they  are  obtained  the  Indian  is  lost  sight  of.  While  our 
missionary  societies  and  benevolent  associations  have  annually 
collected  thousands  of  dollars  from  the  charitable,  to  be  sent  to 
Asia  and  Africa  for  purposes  of  civilization,  scarcely  a  dollar  is 
expended  or  a  thought  bestowed  on  the  civilization  of  Indians  at 
our  very  doors.  Is  it  because  the  Indians  are  not  worth  the  effort 
at  civilization?  Or  is  it  because  our  people,  who  have  grown  rich 
in  the  occupation  of  their  former  lands — too  often  taken  by  force 
or  procured  in  fraud — will  not  contribute  ?  It  would  be  harsh  to 
insinuate  that  covetous  eyes  have  possibly  been  set  on  their  re 
maining  possessions,  and  extermination  harbored  as  a  means  of 
accomplishing  it.  As  we  know  that  our  legislators  and  nine-tenths 
of  our  people  are  actuated  by  no  such  spirit,  would  it  not  be  well 
to  so  regulate  our  future  conduct  in  this  matter  as  to  exclude  the 
possibility  of  so  unfavorable  an  inference  ? 

We  are  aware  that  it  is  an  easy  task  to  condemn  the  errors  of 
former  times,  as  well  as  a  very  thankless  one  to  criticise  those  of 
the  present ;  but  the  past  policy  of  the  Government  has  been  so 


115 

much  at  variance  with  our  ideas  of  treating  this  important  subject, 
that  we  hope  to  be  indulged  in  a  short  allusion  to  it. 

The  wave  of  our  population  has  been  from  the  east  to  the  west. 
The  Indian  was  found  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  thence  to  the 
Kocky  mountains  lived  numerous  distinct  tribes,  each  speaking  a 
language  as  incomprehensible  to  the  other  as  was  our  language  to 
any  of  them.  As  our  settlements  penetrated  the  interior,  the 
border  came  in  contact  with  some  Indian  tribe.  The  white  and 
Indian  must  mingle  together  and  jointly  occupy  the  country,  or 
one  of  them  must  abandon  it.  If  they  could  have  lived  together, 
the  Indian  by  this  contact  would  soon  have  become  civilized  and 
war  would  have  been  impossible.  All  admit  this  would  have  been 
beneficial  to  the  Indian.  Even  if  we  thought  it  would  not  have 
been  hurtful  to  the  white  man,  we  would  not  venture  on  such  an 
assertion,  for  we  know  too  well  his  pride  of  race.  But  suppose  it 
had  proved  a  little  inconvenient  as  well  as  detrimental,  it  is  ques 
tionable  whether  the  policy  adopted  has  not  been  more  injurious. 
What  prevented  their  living  together  ?  First.  The  antipathy  of 
race.  Second.  The  difference  of  customs  and  manners  arising 
from  their  tribal  or  clannish  organization.  Third.  The  difference 
in  language,  which,  in  a  great  measure,  barred  intercourse  and  a 
proper  understanding  each  of  the  other's  motives  and  intentions. 

Nowr  by  educating  the  children  of  these  tribes  in  the  English 
language  these  differences  would  have  disappeared,  and  civiliza 
tion  would  have  followed  at  once.  Nothing  then  would  have  been 
left  but  the  antipathy  of  race,  and  that  too  is  always  softened  in 
the  beams  of  a  higher  civilization. 

Naturally  the  Indian  has  many  noble  qualities.  He  is  the  very 
embodiment  of  courage.  Indeed  at  times  he  seems  insensible  of 
fear.  If  he  is  cruel  and  revengeful  it  is  because  he  is  outlawed, 
and  his  companion  is  the  wild  beast.  Let  civilized  man  be  his 
companion,  and  the  association  warms  into  life  virtues  of  the  rarest 
worth.  Civilization  has  driven  him  back  from  the  home  he  loved  ; 
it  has  often  tortured  and  killed  him,  but  it  never  could  make  him 
a  slave.  As  we  have  had  so  little  respect  for  those  we  did  enslave, 
to  be  consistent  this  element  of  Indian  character  should  challenge 
some  admiration. 

But  suppose,  when  civilized,  our  pride  had  still  rejected  his  asso 
ciation,  we  could  at  least  have  removed  the  causes  of  war  by  giving 
him  a  home  to  himself,  where  he  might,  with  his  own  race,  have 


116 

cultivated  the  arts  of  peace.  Through  sameness  of  language  is 
produced  sameness  of  sentiment  and  thought ;  customs  and  habits 
are  moulded  and  assimilated  in  the  same  way,  and  thus  in  process 
of  time  the  differences  producing  trouble  would  have  been  gradu 
ally  obliterated.  By  civilizing  one  tribe  others  would  have  fol 
lowed.  Indians  of  different  tribes  associate  with  each  other  on 
terms  of  equality  ;  they  have  not  the  Bible,  but  their  religion, 
which  we  call  superstition,  teaches  them  that  the  Great  Spirit 
made  us  all.  In  the  difference  of  language  to-day  lies  two-thirds 
of  our  trouble. 

Instead  of  adopting  the  plan  indicated,  when  the  contact  came 
the  Indian  had  to  be  removed.  He  always  objected  and  went  with 
a  sadder  heart.  His  hunting  grounds  are  as  dear  to  him  as  is  the 
home  of  his  childhood  to  the  civilized  man.  He  too  loves  the 
streams  and  mountains  of  his  youth ;  to  be  forced  to  leave  them 
breaks  those  tender  chords  of  the  heart  which  vibrate  to  the  softer 
sensibilities  of  human  nature,  and  dries  up  the  fountains  of  bene 
volence  and  kindly  feeling  without  which  there  is  no  civilization. 

It  is  useless  to  go  over  the  history  of  Indian  removals.  If  it  had 
been  done  but  once,  the  record  would  bo  less  revolting ;  from  the 
eastern  to  the  middle  States,  from  there  to  Illinois  and  Wisconsin, 
thence  to  Missouri  and  Iowa,  thence  to  Kansas,  Dakota  and  the 
plains  ;  whither  now  we  cannot  tell.  Surely  the  policy  was  not 
designed  to  perpetuate  barbarism,  but  such  has  been  its  effect. 
The  motives  prompting  these  removals  are  too  well  known  to  be 
noticed  by  us.  If  the  Indians  were  now  in  a  fertile  region  of 
country  the  difficulty  would  be  less ;  they  would  not  have  to  be 
removed  again.  But  many  of  them  are  beyond  the  region  of  agri 
culture,  where  the  chase  is  a  necessity.  So  long  as  they  have  to 
subsist  in  this  way  civilization  is  almost  out  of  the  question.  If 
they  could  now  be  brought  back  into  the  midst  of  civilization 
instead  of  being  pushed  west,  with  all  its  inconveniences  it  might 
settle  the  problem  sooner  than  in  any  other  way ;  but  were  we  pre 
pared  to  recommend  such  a  scheme,  the  country  is  not  prepared  to 
receive  it,  nor  would  the  Indians  themselves  accept  it. 

But  one  thing  then  remains  to  be  done  with  honor  to  the  nation, 
and  that  is  to  select?  a  district,  or  districts  of  country,  as  indicated 
by  Congress,  on  which  all  the  tribes  east  of  the  Rocky  mountains 
may  be  gathered.  For  each  district  let  a  territorial  government 
be  established,  with  powers  adapted  to  the  ends  designed.  The 


Ill 

governor  should  be  a  man  of  unquestioned  integrity  and  purity  of 
character ;  he  should  be  paid  such  salary  as  to  place  him  above 
temptation ;  such  police  or  military  force  should  be  authorized  as 
would  enable  him  to  command  respect  and  keep  the  peace  ;  agri 
culture  and  manufactures  should  be  introduced  among  them  as 
rapidly  as  possible;  schools  should  be  established  which  the 
children  should  be  required  to  attend ;  their  barbarous  dialects 
should  be  blotted  out  and  the  English  language  substituted. 
Congress  may  from  time  to  time  establish  courts  and  other  institu 
tions  of  government  suited  to  the  condition  of  the  people.  At  first 
it  may  be  a  strong  military  government ;  let  it  be  so  if  thought 
proper,  and  let  offenders  be  tried  by  military  law  until  civil  courts 
would  answer  a  better  purpose.  Let  farmers  and  mechanics, 
millers  and  engineers  be  employed  and  sent  among  them  for  pur 
poses  of  instruction  ;  then  let  us  invite  our  benevolent  societies 
and  missionary  associations  to  this  field  of  philanthropy  nearer 
home.  The  object  of  greatest  solicitude  should  be  to  break  down 
the  prejudices  of  tribe  among  the  Indians ;  to  blot  out  the  boundary 
lines  which  divide  them  into  distinct  nations,  and  fuse  them  into 
one  homogenous  mass.  Uniformity  of  language  will  do  this — 
nothing  else  will.  As  this  work  advances  each  head  of  a  family 
should  be  encouraged  to  select  and  improve  a  homestead.  Let  the 
women  be  taught  to  weave,  to  sew  and  to  knit.  Let  polygamy  be 
punished.  Encourage  the  building  of  dwellings,  and  the  gathering 
there  of  those  comforts  which  endear  the  home. 

The  annuities  should  consist  exclusively  of  domestic  animals, 
agricultural  and  mechanical  implements,  clothing,  and  such  sub 
sistence  only  as  is  absolutely  necessary  to  support  them  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  enterprise.  Money  annuities,  here  and  else 
where,  should  be  abolished  forever.  These  more  than  anything 
else  have  corrupted  the  Indian  service  and  brought  into  disgrace 
officials  connected  with  it.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  the 
clothing  and  provision  annuities  also  may  be  dispensed  with.  Me 
chanics  and  artisans  will  spring  up  among  them,  and  the  whole 
organization,  under  the  management  of  a  few  honest  men,  will 
become  self-sustaining. 

The  older  Indians  at  first  will  be  unwilling  to  confine  themselves 
to  these  districts.  They  are  inured  to  the  chase  and  they  will  not 
leave  it.  The  work  may  be  of  slow  progress,  but  it  must  be  done. 
If  our  ancestors  had  done  it,  it  would  not  have  to  be  done  now  ; 


118 

but  they  did  not,  and  we  must  meet  it.  Aside  from  extermination 
this  is  the  only  alternative  now  left  us.  We  must  take  the  savage 
as  we  find  him,  or  rather  as  we  have  made  him.  We  have  spent 
two  hundred  years  in  creating  the  present  state  of  things.  If  we 
can  civilize  in  twenty-five  years  it  will  be  a  vast  improvement  on. 
the  operations  of  the  past.  If  we  attempt  to  force  the  older 
Indians  from  the  chase  it  will  involve  us  in  war.  The  younger 
ones  will  follow  them  into  hostility  and  another  generation  of 
savages  wyill  succeed.  When  the  buffalo  is  gone  the  Indians  wiJ . 
cease  to  hunt.  A  few  years  of  peace  and  the  game  will  have  dis 
appeared.  In  the  meantime  by  the  plan  suggested  we  will  have 
formed  a  nucleus  of  civilization  among  the  young  that  will  restrain 
the  old  and  furnish  them  a  home  and  subsistence  when  the  game 
is  gone. 

The  appeal  of  these  old  Indians  is  irresistible.  They  say,  ''We 
know  nothing  about  agriculture.  We  have  lived  011  game  from 
infancy.  We  love  the  chase.  Here  are  the  wide  plains  over  which 
the  vast  herds  of  buffalo  roam.  In  the  spring  they  pass  from 
south  to  north,  and  in  the  fall  return,  traversing  thousands  of 
miles.  Where  they  go  you  have  no  settlements ;  and  if  you  had, 
there  is  room  enough  for  us  both.  Why  limit  us  to  certain 
boundaries  beyond  which  we  shall  not  follow  the  game?  If  you 
want  the  lands  for  settlement  come  and  settle  them.  We  will  not 
disturb  you.  You  may  farm  and  we  will  hunt.  You  love  the  one, 
wo  love  the  other.  If  you  want  game  we  will  share  it  with  you. 
If  we  want  bread,  and  you  have  it  to  spare,  give  it  to  us  ;  but  do 
not  spurn  us  from  your  doors.  Be  kind  to  us  and  we  will  be  kind 
to  you.  If  we  want  ammunition,  give  or  sell  it  to  us.  We  will 
not  use  it  to  hurt  you,  but  pledge  you  all  we  have,  our  word,  that 
at  the  risk  of  our  own  we  will  defend  your  lives." 

If  Congress  should  adopt  these  suggestions,  the  only  question 
remaining  is,  whether  there  shall  be  one  or  two  territories.  Under 
all  the  circumstances  we  would  recommend  the  selection  of  two, 
and  locate  them  as  follows,  viz  : 

First,  the  territory  bounded  north  by  Kansas,  east  by  Arkansas 
and  Missouri,  south  by  Texas,  and  west  by  the  100th  or  101st  me 
ridian. 

In  this  territory  the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  others  of 
the  civilized  tribes  already  reside.  In  process  of  time  others  might 


110 

gradually  be  brought  in,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  we  might 
safely  calculate  on  concentrating  there  the  following  tribes,  to  wit : 

Present  population. 

Cherokees 14,000 

Creeks 14,390 

Choctaws 12,5CO 

Chickasaws 4,  COO 

Seminoles 2, 000 

Osages 3, 000 

Wichitas,  (various  tribes) 3,  H08 

Kiowas  and  Comanchcs 14,800 

Cheyennes,  Arapahocs,  and  Apaches 4,000 

Pottawatomics 1,092 

Kansas  Indians,  (various  tribes) 4,039 

Navajoes  of  New  Mexico 7, 700 


Total . . 80,435 


It  will  be  seen  that  we  include  in  this  estimate  the  Kansas  Indians 
and  number  them  at  their  full  population.  We  learn  that  treaties 
are  now  pending  before  the  Senate  for  the  removal  of  all  the 
Indians  in  that  State.  Among  these  Indians  are  many  upright, 
moral,  and  enlightened  men,  and  our  policy,  as  already  indicated, 
would  be  to  have  them  take  lands  in  severalty  on  their  present 
reservations,  selling  the  remainder  and  becoming  incorporated 
among  the  citizens  of  the  State. 

The  second  district  might  be  located  as  follows,  viz  :  the  terri 
tory  bounded  north  by  the  40th  parallel,  east  by  the  Missouri  river, 
south  by  Nebraska,  and  west  by  the  104th  meridian. 

If  the  hostile  Sioux  cannot  be  induced  to  remove  from  tho 
Powder  river,  a  hunting  privilege  may  be  extended  to  them  for  a 
time,  while  the  nucleus  of  settlement  may  be  forming  on  the  Mis 
souri,  the  White  Earth  or  Cheyenne  river.  To  prevent  war,  if  in 
sisted  on  by  the  Sioux,  tho  western  boundary  might  be  extended 
to  the  100th  or  even  the  107th  meridian  for  the  present. 

The  following  tribes  might  in  a  reasonable  time  be  concentrated 
on  this  reservation,  to  wit : 


120 

Present  population. 

Yancton  Sioux 2,  530 

Poncas 980 

Lower  Brules 1,200 

Lower  Yanctonais 2, 100 

Two  Kettles 1,200 

Elackfeet 1,320 

Minneconjoux 2,220 

Uncpapas 1, 800 

Ogallallas 2,100 

Upper  Yanctonais 2, 400 

Sans  Arcs 1,G80 

Arickarees 1,  GOO 

Gros-Veiitres 400 

Mandans 400 

Assinaboines 2,  G40 

Flatheads 558 

Upper  Pcnd  d'Oreilles 918 

Kootcnays 287 

Blackfcet 2,450 

Picgans 1,870 

Bloods 2, 150 

Gros-Ventres 1,500 

Crows 3,000 

Winnebagoes 1, 750 

Omahas 998 

Ottoes 511 

Brule  and  Ogallalla  Sioux 7,8G5 

Northern  Cheyennes 1,800 

Northern  Arapahocs 750 

Santee  Sioux 1,3,:0 


Total 54,126 


It  may  be  advisable  to  let  the  Winnebagoes,  Omahas,  Ottoes, 
Santee  Sioux,  and  perhaps  others,  remain  where  they  are,  and 
finally  become  incorporated  with  the  citizens  of  Nebraska,  as  sug 
gested  in  regard  to  the  Kansas  tribes. 

The  next  injunction  upon  us  was  to  make  secure  our  frontier 


121 

settlements  and  the  building  of  our  railroads  to  the  Pacific.  If 
peace  is  maintained  with  the  Indian,  every  obstacle  to  the  spread 
of  our  settlements  and  the  rapid  construction  of  the  railroads  will 
be  removed.  To  maintain  peace  with  the  Indian,  let  the  frontier 
settler  treat  him  with  humanity,  and  railroad  directors  see  to  it 
that  he  is  not  shot  down  by  employes  in  wanton  cruelty.  In  short, 
if  settlers  and  railroad  men  will  treat  Indians  as  they  would  treat 
whites  under  similar  circumstances,  we  apprehend  but  little  trou 
ble  will  exist.  They  must  acquaint  themselves  with  the  treaty 
obligations  of  the  Government,  and  respect  them  as  the  highest 
law  of  the  land.  Instead  of  regarding  the  Indian  as  an  enemy,  let 
them  regard  him  as  a  friend,  and  they  will  almost  surely  receive 
his  friendship  and  esteem.  If  they  will  look  upon  him  as  an  un 
fortunate  human  being,  deserving  their  sympathy  and  care,  instead 
of  a  wild  beast  to  be  feared  and  detested,  then  their  own  hearts 
have  removed  the  chief  danger. 

We  were  also  required  to  suggest  some  plan  for  the  civilization 
of  Indians.  In  our  judgment,  to  civilize  is  to  remove  the  causes 
of  war,  and  under  that  head  we  suggested  a  plan  for  civilizing 
those  cast  of  the  mountains.  But  as  it  is  impracticable  to  bring 
within  the  two  districts  named  all  the  Indians  under  our  jurisdic 
tion,  we  beg  the  privilege  to  make  some  general  suggestions,  which 
may  prove  beneficial  to  the  service. 

1.  We  recommend  that  the  intercourse  laws  with  the  Indian 
tribes  be  thoroughly  revised.     They  were  adopted  when  the  Indian 
bureau  was  connected  with  the  War  Department.    Since  that  time 
the  jurisdiction  has  been  transferred  to  the  Interior  Department. 
This  was  done  by  simply  declaring  that  the  authority  over  this 
subject,  once  exercised  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  should  now  bo 
exercised  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.     Some  of  the  duties  en 
joined  by  these  laws  are  intimately  connected  with  the  War  De 
partment,  and  it  is  questionable  whether  they  were  intended  to  be 
transferred  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.     If  they  were  so  trans 
ferred,  the  military  officers  insist  that  the  command  of  the  army 
is,  pro  tanto,  withdrawn  from  them.    If  not  transferred,  the  Indian 
department  insists  that  its  powers  are  insufficient  for  its  own  pro 
tection  in  the  administration  of  its  affairs.     Hence  the  necessity  of 
clearly  defining  the  line  separating  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  two 
departments. 

2.  This  brings  us  to  consider  the  much  mooted  question  whether 


122 

the  bureau  should  belong  to  the  civil  or  military  department  of 
the  Government.  To  determine  this  properly  we  must  first  know 
what  is  to  be  the  future  treatment  of  the  Indians.  If  we  intend 
to  have  war  with  them  the  bureau  should  go  to  the  Secretary  of 
War.  If  we  intend  to  have  peace  it  should  be  in  the  civil  depart 
ment.  In  our  judgment,  such  wars  are  wholly  unnecessary,  and 
hoping  that  the  Government  and  the  country  will  agree  with  us, 
we  cannot  now  advise  the  change.  It  is  possible,  however,  that, 
despite  our  efforts  to  maintain  peace,  war  may  be  forced  on  us  by 
some  tribe  or  tribes  of  Indians.  In  the  event  of  such  occurrence 
it  maybe  well  to  provide,  in  the  revision  of  the  intercourse  laws  or 
elsewhere,  at  what  time  the  civil  jurisdiction  shall  cease  and  the 
military  jurisdiction  begin.  If  thought  advisable,  also,  Congress 
may  authorize  the  President  to  turn  over  to  the  military  the  ex 
clusive  control  of  such  tribes  as  may  be  continually  hostile  or  un 
manageable.  Under  the  plan  which  we  have  suggested  the  chief 
duties  of  the  bureau  will  be  to  educate  and  instruct  in  the  peaceful 
arts— in  other  words,  to  civilize  the  Indians.  The  military  arm  of 
the  Government  is  not  the  most  admirably  adapted  to  discharge 
duties  of  this  character.  We  have  the  highest  possible  apprecia 
tion  of  the  officers  of  the  army,  and  fully  recognize  their  proverbial 
integrity  and  honor;  but  we  are  satisfied  that  not  one  in  a  thou 
sand  would  like  to  teach  Indian  children  to  read  and  write,  or 
Indian  men  to  sow  and  reap.  These  are  emphatically  civil,  and 
not  military,  occupations.  But  it  is  insisted  that  the  present 
Indian  service  is  corrupt,  and  this  change  should  be  made  to  get 
rid  of  the  dishonest.  That  there  are  many  bad  men  connected 
with  the  service  cannot  be  denied.  The  records  are  abundant  to 
show  that  agents  have  pocketed  the  funds  appropriated  by  the 
Government  and  driven  the  Indians  to  starvation.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  Indian  wars  have  originated  from  this  cause.  The 
Sioux  war,  in  Minnesota,  is  supposed  to  have  been  produced  in 
this  way.  For  a  long  time  these  officers  have  been  selected  from 
partisan  ranks,  not  so  much  on  account  of  honesty  and  qualifica 
tion  as  for  devotion  to  party  interests,  and  their  willingness  to  apply 
the  money  of  the  Indian  to  promote  the  selfish  schemes  of  local 
politicians.  We  do  not  doubt  that  some  such  men  may  be  in  the 
service  of  the  bureau  now,  and  this  leads  us  to  suggest : 

3.  That  Congress  pass  an  act  fixing  a  day  (not  later  than  the  1st 
of  February,  H69)  when  the  offices  of  all  superintendents,  agents, 


123 

and  special  agents  shall  be  vacated.  Such  persons  as  have  proved 
themselves  competent  and  faithful  may  be  reappointed.  Those 
who  have  proved  unfit  will  find  themselves  removed  without  an 
opportunity  to  divert  attention  from  their  own  unworthiiiess  by 
professions  of  party  zeal. 

4.  We  believe  the  Indian  question  to  be  one  of  such  momentous 
importance,  as  it  respects  both  the  honor  and  interests  of  the  na 
tion,  as  to  require  for  its  proper  solution  an  undivided  responsibil 
ity.     The  vast  and  complicated  duties  now  devolved  upon  the  Sec 
retary  of  the  Interior,  leave  him  too  little  time  to  examine  and 
determine  the  multiplicity  of  questions  necessarily  connected  with 
the  government  and  civilization  of  a  race.     The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  Secretary  of  War.     As  things  now  are,  it  is  difficult  to  fix 
responsibility.     "When  errors  are  committed  the  civil  department 
blames  the  military  ;  the  military  retort  by  the  charge  of  ineffici 
ency  or  corruption  against  the  officers  of  the  bureau.     The  Com 
missioner  of  Indian  Affairs  escapes  responsibility  by  pointing  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  while  the  Secretary  may  well  respond 
that,   though  in  theory  he  may  be  responsible,   practically  he  is 
governed  by  the  head  of  the  bureau.     We,  therefore,  recommend 
that  Indian  affairs  be  committed  to  an  independent  bureau  or  de 
partment.     Whether  the  head  of  the  department  should  be  made 
a  member  of  the  President's  cabinet  is  a  matter  for  the  discretion 
of  Congress  and  yourself,  and  may  be  as  well  settled  without  any 
suggestions  from  us. 

5.  We  cannot  close  this  report  without  alluding  to  another  mat 
ter  calling  for  the  special  attention  of  Congress.     Governors  of 
Territories  are  now  ex  officio  superintendents  of  Indian  affairs  with 
in  their  respective  jurisdictions.     The  settlements  in  the  new  Ter 
ritories  are  generally  made  on  Indian  lands  before  the  extinguish 
ment  of  the  Indian  title.     If  difficulties  ensue  between  the  whites 
and  Indians,  the  governor  too  frequently  neglects  the  rights  of  the 
red  man,  and  yields  to  the  demands  of  those  who  have  votes  to 
promote  his  political  aspirations  in  the  organization  of  the  forth 
coming  State.     Lest  any  acting  governor  may  suppose  himself  al 
luded  to,  we  take  occasion  to  disclaim  such  intention.     We  might 
cite  instances  of  gross  outrage  in  the  past,  but  we  prefer  to  base 
the  recommendation  upon  general  principles,  which  can  be  readily 
understood.     And  in  this  connection  we  deem  it  of  the  highest 
importance  that— 


124 

G.  No  governor  or  legislature  of  States  or  Territories  be  per 
mitted  to  call  out  and  equip  troops  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on 
war  against  Indians.  It  was  Colorado  troops  that  involved  us 
in  the  war  of  1864-65,  with  the  Cheyennes.  It  was  a  regiment 
of  hundred-day  men  that  perpetrated  the  butchery  at  Sand  Creek, 
and  took  from  the  treasury  millions  of  money.  A  regiment  of 
Montana  troops,  last  September,  would  have  involved  us  in  an  al 
most  interminable  war  with  the  Crows  but  for  the  timely  interven 
tion  of  the  military  authorities.  If  we  must  have  Indian  wars,  let 
them  be  carried  on  by  the  regular  army,  whose  officers  are  gen 
erally  actuated  by  the  loftiest  principles  of  humanity,  and  the 
honor  of  whose  profession  requires  them  to  respect  the  rules  of 
civilized  warfare. 

7.  In  reviewing  the  intercourse  laws  it  would  be  well  to  pres 
cribe  anew  the  conditions  upon  which  persons  may  be  authorized 
to  trade.  At  present  every  one  trades  with  or  without  the  author 
ity  of  the  bureau  officers,  on  giving  a  bond  approved  by  a  judge 
of  one  of  the  district  courts.  Corrupt  and  dangerous  men  thus 
find  their  way  among  the  Indians,  who  cheat  them  in  trade,  and 
sow  the  seeds  of  dissension  and  trouble. 

8.  New  provision  should  be  made  authorizing  and  positively 
directing  the  military  authorities  to  remove  white  persons  who 
persist  in  trespassing  on  Indian  reservations  and  unceded  Indian 
lands. 

9.  The  Navajo  Indians  in  New  Mexico  were  for  several  years 
held  as  prisoners  of  war  at  the  Bosquc  Redondo,  at  a  very  great 
expense  to  the  government.     They  have  now  been  turned  over  to 
the  Interior  Department,  and  must  be  subsisted  as  long  as  they  re 
main  there.     We  propose  that  a  treaty  be  made  with  them,  or 
their  consent  in  some  way  obtained,  to  remove  at  an  early  day  to 
the  southern  district  selected  by  us,  where  they  may  soon  be  made 
self-supporting. 

10.  We  suggest  that  the  President  may,  at  times,  appoint  some 
person   or  persons  in  the  distant  Territories,  either  civilians  or 
military  men,  to  make  inspection  of  Indian  affairs,  and  report  to 
him. 

11.  A  new  commission   should  be  appointed,  or  the  present  one 
be  authorized  to  meet  the  Sioux  next  spring,  according  to  our 
agreement,  and  also  to  arrange  with  the  Navajocs  for  their  re 
moval.     It  might  be  well,  also,  in  case  our  suggestions  are  adopted 


125 

in  regard  to  selecting  Indian  territories,  to  extend  the  powers  of 
the  commission,  so  as  to  enable  us  to  conclude  treaties  or  agree 
ments  with  tribes  confessedly  at  peace,  looking  to  their  concentra 
tion  upon  the  reservations  indicated. 

In  the  course  of  a  short  time  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  will  havo 
reached  the  country  claimed  by  the  Snakes,  Bannacks,  and  other 
tribes,  and,  in  order  to  preserve  peace  with  them  the  commission 
should  be  required  to  sec  them  and  make  with  them  satisfactory 
arrangements. 

Appended  hereto  will  be  found — 

1.  The  journal  of  our  meetings,  and  councils  held. 

2.  The  detailed  mass  of  evidence  taken  and  reports  collected, 
illustrative  of  the  objects  embraced  in  the  act  creating  the  com 
mission. 

3.  The  treaty  made  and  concluded  with  the  Kiowas  and  Co- 
maiiches. 

4.  The   supplementary  treaty  made   and   concluded  with  the 
Apaches  of  the  plains. 

5.  The  treaty  of  peace  made  and  concluded  with  the  Cheyennes 
and  Arapahocs. 

G.  The  account  current  of  all  moneys  received  and  disbursed  by 
authority  of  the  commission. 

In  conclusion,  we  beg  permission  to  return  our  thanks  to  the 
officers  of  the  military  posts  everywhere  within  the  limits  of  our 
operations,  for  their  uniform  courtesy  and  kindness.  The  officers 
of  the  railroad  companies  on  the  plains  especially  are  entitled  to 
our  thanks  for  kind  co-operation  in  the  objects  of  our  mission,  and 
attention  to  our  convenience  and  comfort. 

Respectfully  submitted : 

K.  G.  TAYLOR,  President, 

J.  B.  HENDERSON, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Lieut.  Gen., 

WM.  S.  HARNEY,  Bvt.  Maj.  Gen., 

JOHN  B.  SANBORN, 

ALFRED  H.  TERRY,  Bvt.  Maj.  Gen., 

S.  F.  TAPPAN, 

C.  C.  AUGUR,  Bvt.  Maj.  Gen.  II.  S.  A., 

Commissioners. 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C., 

January  7,  18C8. 


YB  2060! 


FOURTEEN  D. 


RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

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